Hamburg, N.Y. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team picked up their first AMCC win of the season on Tuesday as they defeated Hilbert in a pulse-pounding 5-set match.
The hosts were able to take set one 22-25 before the Panthers battled back to even the match with a 25-18 win in the second. A late Panther rally fell short in the third as Hilbert took a 2-1 lead after winning the set 23-25. Pitt-Bradford battled to force a tie-breaking set with a 25-20 win in the fourth and then erased a late 4-point deficit to win the final set 16-14 to secure the match.
Pitt Bradford fell behind right off the bat in set one, but quickly erased the early 3-point deficit and eventually built a lead of their own at 9-6 after 5 straight kills. 3 of the points came from Ruby Smith, while Jenna Louser had the other two. The Panthers could not hang onto the momentum, as the Hawks chipped away and retook the lead at 12-13. After a Hilbert service error ended their rally, the Panthers struck for 3 more in a row, as Smith added two more kills and Louser had a block. The hosts remained resilient and tied the set quickly. Neither team was able to grab an edge until Hilbert scored four in a row to take the set.
The Panthers responded in set two, as they took an early 3-2 lead and never looked back. They would not trail in the set again, as they quickly built a 0-point advantage after a Kayla Maslowski service ace. Hilbert took three back, but the Panthers eventually pushed their lead to double digits after a Marissa Bowman kill at 21-11. The Hawks rallied late, scoring 7 times in a 9-point stretch, but following a service error to put the Pitt-Bradford on set point, Smith tallied another kill to win it for the Panthers.
The third set began as an even match, as neither team was able to build more than a two-point lead early on. That changed when the Panthers led 16-14, and the hosts rallied, scoring 9 of 11 points to go ahead 18-23. Pitt-Bradford was able to attempt to battle back, scoring 5 of 6 points, but after getting back to within one allowed the Hawks to close the set with a kill.
Needing a win to extend the match, Pitt-Bradford fell behind Hilbert 1-5 early in the 4th. They were able to rally quickly, going on a 9-1 run to turn the deficit into a 4-point lead. The Hawks eventually cut the Panther lead down to one, but Pitt-Bradford responded, quickly extending their advantage back to 6 points. The hosts made one more late run, but could not get closer than three points and the Panthers tied the match at 2 sets with two Summer Anderson solo blocks to close the 4th.
In the deciding set, the Panthers looked sharp early, as they took a 4-2 lead on an Anderson ace. The tide quickly turned, however, as Hilbert rolled off 6 straight points to go ahead by four. Pitt-Bradford used three errors from the Hawks to cut the lead back to one, but then after a timeout, saw the deficit restored as Hilbert scored three in a row. Smith and Louser combined on a block to end the rally, and it set up a 5-point run for the Panthers that saw them take a 12-11 lead late in the set. The rally ended on a service error, and then two Hilbert kills around a point from Alyssa Radtke put the hosts on match point. The Panthers got a little help from Hilbert, as the game was quickly tied at 14 on a service error before Anderson and Bowman finished the match with consecutive kills.
Ruby Smith led the Panther attack on the night as she finished with a season-high 14 kills. She was also Pitt-Bradford's most efficient attacker, posting a hitting percentage of .325. Marissa Bowman also reached double figures, as she finished with 10 kills while adding 14 digs. Jenna Louser added 7 kills and was in on 5 blocks. Alyssa Radtke finished with a double-double, dishing out 31 assists, while also collecting 17 digs. She also added 2 half-blocks and 3 kills. Kayla Maslowski led the back line with 31 digs, while Baylee Fitzsimmons added 13. Pitt-Bradford was a force at the net, accumulating 13 total blocks, led by Summer Anderson who was involved in 8 of them. She also added 5 kills.
Pitt-Bradford is now 4-16 on the season and 1-3 in AMCC play. They will return to KOA Arena over the weekend, as they will host Penn State-Altoona on Senior Day. The match is slated for a 1:00 p.m. start.
