Bradford, PA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team opened its home slate on Tuesday night, hosting Penn State-Shenango in KOA Arena. The Panthers fell behind after losing sets two and three, but battled back to earn a 3-2 victory over the Lions.
The Panthers opened the match with a 25-18 win in the first, but then fell behind after Penn State-Shenango took set two 21-25 and set three 20-25. Pitt-Bradford battled back in the fourth, winning 25-20 before closing the match with an 8-2 run to win the deciding set 15-9.
Pitt-Bradford started off positively, opening the match with consecutive aces from Danielle Sasuga and a Ruby Smith kill to go ahead 3-0. The visitors responded and battled back to tie the set at 5 and take an early lead of their own. Back-to-back kills by Alycia Wilson and a Brooke DeYoe ace put the Panthers back in front, giving them a lead in the set which they would not relinquish. The teams exchanged short rallies, but the Lions were never able to catch the Panthers. Leading 20-17, Ryley Pago started a 5-1 run to close the set, which finished on a Wilson ace at 25-18.
In set two, the teams exchanged the lead multiple times at the beginning of the set, but DeYoe served the Panthers to 3 in a row to open up a 9-7 lead. They pushed the lead to 4 after a Sasuga ace, but the visitors were able to battle back, putting on a 7-1 run to turn their deficit into a 20-17 lead. To close the set, Penn State-Shenango limited the Panthers with four consecutive side outs, and then evened the match at one with a block and kill.
The Panthers began set three with another Sasuga ace, but quickly fell behind as the Lions went on a 5-1 run early in the set. The Panthers chipped away at the deficit, pulling to within one point, but the visitors were able to respond and extend their advantage to 7 points at 19-12. Jenna Louser and Marissa Bowman combined on a block to spark a Pitt-Bradford rally. The Panthers used two more Louser solo blocks, a Bowman ace, and a kill by Alyssa Spang to cut the lead to one. Unfortunately, the rally came up short, and Penn State-Shenango closed the set with a 6-2 run to go ahead 2 sets to 1.
With their backs against the wall in the 4th, Pitt-Bradford came out of the gate firing, scoring the first 10 points of the set. The Panthers used 4 kills from Smith and two more Sasuga aces to kick start the 4th. The Panthers coasted through the middle of the set, but were able to stay in front, limiting the Lions to short rallies. Their lead was eventually cut down to 2 points at 22-20, but the Panthers settled in and forced a 5th set with a kill and an ace from Wilson, followed by a set-clinching attack error.
The Panthers familiarly started the deciding set, scoring the first two points on a Lion service error and a Sasuga ace. Back-to-back kills by Smith and Spang pushed the lead to 3, but the Lions responded and scored 5 of the next 6 points to take the lead. The visitors reached 8 first after an exchange of sideouts, but the Panthers grabbed all momentum after switching courts. Pitt-Bradford closed the match with an 8-1 run. Wilson started the rally with another kill, followed by an ace. After a service error gave the Lions their last point of the game, Smith put down a kill to return the serve to Sasuga. The sophomore libero served Pitt-Bradford to 6 straight points, including one final Smith kill to secure the victory.
Ruby Smith led the Panthers offensively, tallying 13 kills in the match. She also picked up 10 digs. Jenna Louser and Alycia Wilson were both able to reach double figures, finishing with 10 kills. Louser hit .214 in the match and also had 3.5 blocks. Wilson collected 11 digs and had 4 aces. Marissa Bowman directed the offense to the tune of 37 assists, while also adding 3 kills and 2 aces. Danielle Sasuga led the defensive effort with 28 digs. She also recorded 9 service aces in the match. It is the 6th most in a 5-set match in Division III this season.
The win moves the Panthers to 6-0 on the year. They will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 13th, when they head to Elmira, N.Y., for a tri-match. They will begin the day with a matchup against Wilkes at 1:00 p.m., before taking on the hosts, Elmira, at 3:00.
