Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford volleyball team suffered a heartbreaking loss to Penn State-Beaver on Saturday, as they were unable to wrap up the match after earning a 2-0 lead, eventually falling in 5.
The Panthers jumped ahead of the Lions with a 28-26 win in set one and a 25-18 win in the second. The Panthers were held off from victory by a pair of 20-25 losses in the 3rd and 4th sets, before being unable to hold on to an early lead in the tiebreaker, ultimately losing 15-13.
In the first set, neither team could gain control early, as they split the first ten points evenly. The visitors took charge first, slowly building a five-point advantage at 9-14. After a service error turned the ball over to the Panthers, Chloe Bellis served the Panthers to 7 straight points, turning their deficit into a 2-point lead. The teams exchanged runs once again until the Lions sat on set point with the score 24-22. Chloe Bellis put down a kill to get the Panthers back to the service line and a block from Summer Anderson and Bellis tied the set. After sharing four straight points, the Panthers were able to emerge with two in a row on a kill from Bellis and a Penn State-Beaver error, giving them the set win.
The teams once again were evenly matched early in set two, but the Panthers were able to break away with the score tied at 8. Dylan Amic served the Panthers to three points and after a short answer from the Lions, Pitt-Bradford scored four more in a row with Alyssa Radtke on the service line. Leading 17-10, the Panthers were able to coast to a win in the set, eventually winning 25-18. Amic closed the set with a service ace.
The Panthers made changes to their lineup in the third game and were able to stay even with the Lions early on. Marissa Bowman put down a kill to put the Panthers down one, but the visitors responded with 3 in a row to begin building a lead. They eventually pushed their advantage to six points, which allowed them to withstand a late run by the Panthers and extend the game with a 20-25 set win.
Pitt-Bradford jumped out to an early lead in set four, as they took advantage of three Lion errors and a service ace to start the set ahead 4-0. Penn State-Beaver was able to quickly erase the lead, eventually surpassing the Panthers to take an 8-11 lead. A pair of Ruby Smith kills tied the set at 11, but her effort was answered with three in a row by the Lions, restoring a 3-point edge. An attack error returned the serve to the Panthers, and libero Kayla Maslowski served the Panthers to 5 straight points. She added an ace to another pair of kills by Smith in the rally. Penn-State Beaver responded again, regaining a two-point lead at 18-20, before a service error and an Anderson ace tied the set at 20. Unfortunately for the Panthers, their opponents rallied again to close the set, scoring 5 in a row to send the match to a tie-breaking 5th set.
The Panthers exploded early in the 5th, as Bridget Kasting added two kills to a Lion error to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead. The Lions quickly answered with three of their own, but Kasting was able to set down two more kills around one from Louser, sending the set to its midway point with the Panthers up 7-3. After the change, the Panthers struggled to regain their form, as they committed 5 errors around a pair of Lion kills to fall behind 8-10. Ruby Smith took control of the match, recording 4 straight kills to put the Panthers up 1 at 13-12. Needing two more points to earn the victory, the Panthers committed three straight errors, losing the set 15-13.
Ruby Smith led the Panther attack, finishing with 13 kills. Freshman Bridget Kasting set a career-high, putting down 11 kills in the match. Her fellow freshman Marissa Bowman had an efficient afternoon, recording 6 kills on 13 swings with just one error. Chloe Bellis had a strong all-around performance for the Panthers. She had 4 kills and 26 assists offensively, and 20 digs with 2 blocks defensively. Libero Kayla Maslowski had 24 digs in 3 sets played. As a team, the Panthers recorded 8 total blocks, led by Jenna Louser who was a part of 4.
The Panthers fall to 0-5 on the season after the loss. They will be back in action on Tuesday, when they host Penn State-Dubois at 7:00 p.m. in KOA Arena.
