Bradford, PA. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team brought their 2024 season to an end on Saturday, defeating Pitt-Greensburg 3-1 on Senior Day.
Prior to the action, the Panthers took a few moments to recognize their four seniors, Dylan Amic, Emma King, Taylor King, and Kayla Maslowski. A defensive specialist, Amic played 79 matches and 211 sets, tallying 364 digs, 28 assists, and 67 aces. Emma King played 75 matches and 155 sets as an outside hitter. She finished her career with 218 kills, a .030 hitting percentage, and 21 total blocks. Taylor King split time at middle and outside hitter. She played 79 matches and 173 sets, recording 178 kills, 51 digs, and 54 total blocks. Last but not least, Kayla Maslowski has been a 4-year starter for the Panthers, playing 101 matches and 349 kills. She finishes her career 2nd in program history with 1,564 digs. She also rallied 221 assists and 112 aces.
The Panthers started strong, winning the opening two sets of the match 25-23. After shuffling the lineup they were not able to complete the sweep, dropping set three 18-25, but erased an early deficit in the 4th to win the set 25-21 and finish the match.
Pitt-Bradford fell behind early in set one, dropping 6 of the first 7 points of the match. They quickly battled back after two kills from Alycia Wilson, scoring 10 of 12 to move into the lead. Wilson added one more kill in the rally, while Taylor King celebrated senior day with 3 quick kills and classmate Emma King added another. The Bobcats responded, using 3 Panther errors and two kills to retake the lead before the Panthers tied the score at 14 with back-to-back points by Ruby Smith and Emma King. The teams exchanged side-outs until the Panthers took a 2-point lead with a Smith kill. The teams split the next six points, with the Panthers ultimately winning the set 25-23.
The Panthers had another slow start in the second set, quickly falling behind 6-2. The visitors eventually pushed their lead to 6 points at 10-4, before the Panthers began to rally. Brookelyn Bellavia put down consecutive kills to start a rally that saw the Panthers outscore the Bobcats 8-3 and cut the lead to 1 after a Kayla Maslowski ace. Pitt-Greensburg held off the Panthers with a three-point run, but after a Wilson Kill, the Panthers turned red hot, scoring 7 straight points with Alexah Martinez at the service line. Wilson had 3 kills in the rally, while Ryley PAgo and Bellavia each added one. Martinez finished the run with 2 straight aces. The Bobcats responded and took a 21-20 lead, but the Panthers scored 5 of 6 to close the set, culminating with two Martinez kills.
Set three followed the same script as its predecessors to begin as the visitors took a quick 9-4 lead to start the set. Trailing 11-6, the Panthers rallied to erase the lead. They quickly scored 5 in a row as Emma King and Jenna Louser each had two kills around a Maslowski ace to tie the set at 11. The Bobcats regained the lead with three straight, but the Panthers had an immediate response with four in a row to take the lead. A service error ended the rally and flipped the momentum as the Panthers were outscored 10-3 to close the set and extend the match.
Pitt-Bradford was finally able to start a set with the lead, as they scored 3 of the first 4 points of set four. They did not keep the momentum, however, as they then allowed the Bobcats to score 11 of the next 14 points to open up a 12-6 lead. The Panthers once again put together a mid-set rally, scoring 6 straight to tie the score at 12. Emma King had 2 more kills in the rally, while Louser had a kill and a block and Maslowski recorded another ace. Pitt-Bradford continued to build their lead after a kill, as they pushed their advantage to 5 points at 21-16. The Panthers struggled to put the game away, and the Bobcats scored 4 straight, trimming the Panther advantage to 1 point. With their lead down to one, Pitt-Bradford put the game away with three straight points, including two more Emma King kills.
Alycia Wilson and Emma King both finished the match with 13 kills. Jenna Louser was just behind them with 12 kills, while also chipping in with 4 total blocks. Taylor King also had a strong match in her final collegiate contest, registering 6 kills with a .357 hitting percentage. Alexah Martinez filled up the stat sheet, finishing with 23 assists, 19 digs, 4 kills, and 3 aces. Abby King also had a double-double effort, tallying 15 assists and 11 digs. Kayla Maslowski spearheaded the defensive effort, collecting 27 digs while also contributing 9 assists and 3 aces. Dylan Amic finished with 16 digs.
The Panthers finish their season with a 5-20 record, including a 2-6 mark in AMCC play. They finish the season 7th in the AMCC standings and 1 game out of a playoff spot.
