Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford volleyball team defeated the LaRoche Redhawks on Saturday, clinching the 4 seed in the upcoming AMCC Championship tournament, and a 1st round home game.

The Panthers were able to break away from the Redhawks midway through each set, to calmly win the match with set scores of 25-19, 25-16, and 25-16.

The Panthers were able to jump ahead quickly as Olivia Reese opened the game with a kill and Tabitha Walker followed up with back-to-back aces. The Redhawks were able to battle back and tie the game, but the Panthers were able to respond to each LaRoche rally and restore the lead and push it even further. A Kayla Maslowski service ace put the Panthers ahead 14-10 before the visitors were able to score 3 of 4 to cut the lead to two points. The Panthers restored their 5-point lead with a Ruby Smith kill and then scored three straight to close the set at 25-19.

The visitors were able to come out of the gates fast in set two, scoring the first two points, but the Panthers battled back with four straight points on four Redhawk errors. LaRoche quickly scored three straight to retake the lead and eventually pushed their advantage to 4 points on a block at 11-7. They maintained their 4-point lead with back-to-back blocks, but a hitting error switched momentum back to the Panthers at 14-11 and the Panthers went on to score 14 of 16 points to finish the set. They scored four in a row and took the lead at 15-14 on a double block from Jenna Louser and Reese. Following a pair of slideouts, they forced a LaRoche timeout at 18-15  on kills from Louser and Taylor King and a LaRoche error. The Redhawks picked up a side out after the timeout, but Pitt-Bradford quickly finished the set with 7 straight points. The run included a Chloe Bellis ace, a block from Kaitlyn Sexton and Reese, and kills from Reese, Sexton, and Stephanie Carson. The set ended on a final LaRoche hitting error to put the Panthers ahead  2-0.

After scoring 7 straight to finish the 2nd set, Pitt-Bradford kept rolling as the match moved into set three. They outscored the visitors 14-1 over the first 15 points to take a commanding lead. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a Louser kill and two aces from Tabitha Walker. After a side out, Ruby Smith returned the serve to the Panthers with a kill and Stephanie Carson served the Panthers to 10 straight points. Reese tallied 4 kills in the run, while Carson had three aces. The Redhawks broke the streak and scored four straight of their own, and throughout the set worked to chip away at the lead. The Panthers were able to earn enough side-outs to slow the comeback effort and closed the game at 25-16 on a Maslowski ace.

Olivia Reese led the attack for Pitt-Bradford with 12 kills. Tabitha Walker filled up the stat sheet for the Panthers, tallying 32 assists, 14 digs, and 4 service aces. Stephanie Carson and Kayla Maslowski both reached double figures with 12 and 10 digs each.

The win moved the Panthers to 10-15 on the season and finish AMCC play at 4-3. They finish tied for 3rd with Mount Aloysius and Penn State-Altoona at 4-3 in the AMCC standings and take 4th due to conference tiebreak regulations.

Moving into the postseason, the Panthers will play their final home game of the season on Wednesday, November 2nd, when they host #5 Penn State-Altoona. The game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in KOA Arena.