Wooster, Oh. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team began its trip to Wooster, Oh. with a tough 5-set loss to the Chatham Cougars.
Each set in the match came down to a few points at the end as each was won by the minimum 2 points, with three sets going over the winning point total. The Panthers won the 1st and 3rd sets 27-25, lost the 2nd and 4th 23-25, and fell in the match-deciding set 14-16.
The first set of the match saw the Panthers fall behind quickly after a 5-point run from the Cougars. The Panthers were able to respond, slowly whittling away the lead and eventually taking a lead at 9-8. They pushed their lead to 4 points but were unable to maintain control as Chatham scored 4 straight to even the set and then after 4 straight side outs, took an 18-20 lead. Pitt-Bradford was able to battle back and take a 23-21 lead before 3 straight Cougar kills put Chatham on set point. The Panthers buckled in and scored 4 of 5 points to close the set and take a 1-0 lead. Olivia Reese recorded back-to-back clutch kills to close the set.
The Panthers used the momentum from the first set to jump out to a quick 4-1 lead. Ruby Smith had two kills in the early rally. Pitt-Bradford was able to jump out to 4-point leads two more times in the set, but after each saw the Cougars respond with 4 straight to tie the score. Chatham took a lead at 17-18 and slowly pushed it to 3 points at 19-22. The Panthers were able to score 4 of 5 points to tie the set at 23, but Chatham scored two straight to tie the match at a set each.
Pitt-Bradford had early success once again in set 3, pushing to a 9-5 lead after a double block from Ryley Pago and Tabitha Walker. They maintained a 5-point lead until the Cougars scored 9 of 11 points to take a 2-point advantage of their own. The match was tied at 23-23 before 4 straight side-outs pushed the set over 25. The PAnthes were once again able to score two straight to win, with Tabitha Walker picking up a solo block to clinch the set.
Chatham was able to jump ahead of the Panthers in set four, scoring the first 3 points and adding another point to take a 5-1 lead. The Panthers responded by scoring 5 of 6 to tie the set at 6. They fell behind once more in the middle of the set as the Cougars took an 11-14 lead, but the Panthers went on another big rally, turning the deficit into a 2-point lead at 18-16. The rally included three straight kills from Olivia Reese. Pitt-Bradford was once again unable to hold onto the momentum, as the Cougars scored 8 of 10 points to take a 20-23 lead. Two Ruby Smith kills and a Tabitha Walker ace tied the set at 23, but Chatham scored two final points to send the match into a tiebreaking 5th set.
Just like the first four sets, the 5th saw both teams score in rallies resulting in multiple lead changes and ties. Chatham was able to score the first two points of the set before the Panthers rallied to score 3 of their own and take the lead. The Cougars immediately retook the lead and eventually pushed to an 8-11 advantage. Kills from Darby Deniston and Kaitlyn Sexton were followed by a Chatham attack error to tie the set at 11. The Cougars retook the lead and quickly moved to matchpoint at 12-14, but the Panthers received two clutch kills from Deniston and Sexton to tie the score at 14. Unfortunately for Pitt-Bradford, Chatham responded with two straight to close the match.
Olivia Reese led the offensive effort for the Panthers, recording 13 kills. Freshmen Darby Deniston and Ruby Smith each reached double figures, putting down 11 and 10 kills each. Tabitha Walker directed the Pitt-Bradford attack, dishing out a season-high 42 assists. She also added 14 digs and 1.5 total blocks.
The Panthers had an impressive team defensive effort, picking up 119 total digs. Kayla Maslowski led the team with 27, while Stephanie Carson and Eve Brink both had over 20 digs at 25 and 22. Walker and Chloe Bellis also reached double figures. The Panthers also had 14 total blocks. Kaitlyn Sexton had 2 solo blocks and 4 half blocks, while Summer Anderson finished with 2.5 and Ryley Pago added two.
The loss dropped the Panthers to 2-8 on the season. They are right back in action later tonight, as they take on Wooster.
