Buffalo, N.Y. -- After two home wins on Saturday, the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford volleyball team was back in action on Tuesday night, falling to Buffalo State in straight sets.

The Panthers struggled to find their footing early, losing the first set 25-12. They remained close to the hosts throughout the 2nd set before falling 25-21 and were able to hold a lead late into set three before a 4-point rally closed the match 25-23.

Despite jumping out to a 2-0 lead after an opening kill from Darby Deniston and a service ace for Tabitha Walker, the Panthers were unable to hold on to the momentum as the Bengals immediately went on a 6-1 rally to take an early lead. They maintained their edge, using rallies of 7 and 8 straight points to open up a 22-8 advantage. They were able to maintain this lead to win the set and take a 1-0 lead.

The second set of the match was close for its entirety as neither team was able to take a lead larger than two points until its final 8 points. With the Panthers behind 10-8, Ruby Smith put down a pair of kills and forced a Buffalo State hitting error to take the lead. After a pair of blocks returned the lead to the Bengals, a hitting error was followed by an Olivia Reese kill and a Smith service ace to go ahead 14-12. Buffalo State retook the lead with a 3-point rally and eventually put the set away by scoring 5 of the final 7 points of the set.

Needing to win set three to extend the match, Pitt-Bradford came out of the break firing, scoring the first three points of the set. The Panthers maintained their lead until a 5-point rally from the Bengals turned a 2-point deficit into a three-point lead. Pitt-Bradford responded using a 5-point rally of their own and then pushed their lead to 3 points using a Reese kill and Eve Brink service ace. The Bengals came back to tie the set at 21, but the Panthers remained resilient using an attack error and a Smith kill to go up 23-21. Unfortunately, the Panthers were unable to close the set, as Buffalo State scored 4 straight to close the match.

Olivia Reese led the Panthers with 6 kills. Ruby Smith added 5, while Kaitlyn Sexton had 4. Tabitha Walker distributed 18 assists in the three-set match, and also picked up 10 digs. Kayla Maslowski finished with 12 digs to lead the Panthers.

The Panthers fall to 5-11 on the season after the loss. They will have a week off before hosting Penn College on Tuesday, October 4th.