Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford volleyball team was back in action on Tuesday evening as they easily defeated the Penn College Wildcats 3-0.
The Panthers dominated play as they hit .286 as a team while holding their opponents to just 12 kills in the match. The Panthers jumped ahead with a 25-12 win in set one and easily took set two 25-16. They then closed the match with a dominating 25-12 third set.
The teams battled early in the first set but four straight aces from Eve Brink thrust the Panthers into the lead. Brink served for 10 straight Pitt-Bradford points in a run that included 2 kills each from Olivia Reese and Kaitlyn Sexton. Three straight errors allowed the Wildcats to cut the lead into single digits before Stephanie Carson was credited with a kill to end the rally. After Carson's kill, Summer Anderson picked up a solo block, and back-to-back kills from Darby Deniston nearly ended the set. Following a service error, Anderson picked up the final kill to put the Panthers up 1-0.
Set two began in a similar fashion to the first as the Panthers allowed the Wildcats to remain close committing 8 errors early on. After a Penn service error, Chloe Bellis stepped to the service line and served Pitt-Bradford to 7 straight points. Brooklyn Bellavia started the rally with a solo block and a kill which was followed by three straight kills from Ruby Smith and the rally ended with a Bellis service ace leading to a timeout. Leading 21-11, the Panthers were able to outlast the Wildcats and win the set on another Anderson kill.
The final set of the match was dominated by the Panthers as following an opening side out Pitt-Bradford scored 7 straight to jump into the lead. Jenna Louser had two kills and a shared block to start the rally while two Taylor King kills bookended a pair of Dylan Amic aces. After a few side-outs, the Panthers used another long service run, this time from Taylor King to build an insurmountable lead. King served for 9 straight points as her team built a 19-5 advantage. King had two aces in the rally and Kaitlyn Sexton added a pair of kills. Later on, the Panthers used kills from Louser and Emma King to move to match point before the Wildcats made a final stand, scoring 5 straight to trim the lead to 24-12. Tabitha Walker picked up the final kill on a setter attack to finish the match.
The Panthers played 20 different players in the match, as they split their attack evenly. Olivia Reese and Kaitlyn Sexton led the way with 5 kills while 8 other Panthers logged at least 3. Tabitha Walker recorded 17 assists in two sets played, while Chloe Bellis added 11 in one set. Kayla Maslowski led the defensive effort with 15 digs and Stephanie Carson also reached double-digit digs with 10. The Panthers tallied 15 service aces in the match, led by Eve Brink with 4 and Dylan Amic with 3.
The win moves Pitt-Bradford to 6-11 on the season with a perfect 5-0 record at home. They will begin AMCC play on Saturday when they travel south to Face Mount Aloysius at 1:00 p.m. in Cresson, Pa.
