Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford volleyball team dominated the first two sets in the final game of their home tri-match, leading to a 3-0 win over Wells.
The Panthers easily dispatched of the Express early, winning set one 25-7 and set two 25-11. They hit an even .500 in the first, recording 15 kills to just one error. After making some lineup changes, they were able to battle back from a late deficit in set three to close the match with a 25-22 win.
Pitt-Bradford took an early 4-1 lead in the first set before Wells was able to close the gap with 3 points out of 4. From that point, the Panthers took over. A Darby Deniston kill gave the serve to Eve Brink, who led the Panthers to 5 straight points to open up an 11-4 edge. Jenna Louser and Olivia Reese each had a kill and half a block in the rally. Following three straight side-outs, another Deniston kill led to a long 11-point rally with Kayla Maslowski at the service line. Deniston added 4 more kills while Sexton added a pair and Maslowski picked up 3 aces. The Express picked up a point on a block, but two straight errors gave the set to Pitt-Bradford.
The pattern continued as the match moved into its second set, with the Panthers building an early 10-4 advantage. After four points and another Maslowski ace put the Panthers up 9, Wells made a comeback attempt of their own, scoring four straight to trim the lead to 16-10. Talia Magno put down a kill to get the Panthers back to serve and Chloe Bellis stepped in and delivered 4 straight aces to push the Panther advantage into double digits. Both teams committed serving errors before Kaitlyn Sexton closed the set with an ace of her own.
The third set was much different from its predecessors as neither team was able to take a lead greater than two points through 38 points. Following a Panther timeout with the match tied at 19, Wells responded, scoring 3 in a row to go ahead 22-19. A service error ended the rally and the Panthers grabbed the momentum, tying the match at 22 with back-to-back kills from Ruby Smith and Eve Brink. Following a Wells timeout, Tabitha Walker and Kaitlyn Sexton combined on a block and Smith moved the game to match point with a kill. The Express were unable to handle the Maslowski serve cleanly and committed an offensive error to end the match.
Olivia Reese once again led the Panthers with 9 kills, while Darby Deniston finished with 8. Kaitlyn Sexton had 5 kills in the match, but was extremely efficient, finishing with a .625 hitting percentage. Tabitha Walker had 29 assists in the three-set victory. Kayla Maslowski led the defensive effort with 12 digs, while Eve Brink was just behind her at 11. The Panthers combined for a season-high 13 service aces with Chloe Bellis and Maslowski finishing with 4 each and Sexton adding 3.
The win moves the Panthers to 5-10 on the season and keeps their unblemished home record intact. They will hit the road for their next contest, as they will take on Buffalo State on Tuesday, September 27th at 7:00 p.m.
