Fredonia, NY -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team returned to action on Tuesday night, taking on Fredonia on the road. The Panthers won the opening set, and then after dropping set two, opened up big leads in the 3rd and 4th sets to take down the Blue Devils 3-1.
Pitt-Bradford outlasted Fredonia in set one, winning 25-21, but could not respond to a 10-3 Blue Devil run in the 2nd, dropping the set 21-25. They used a 9-1 run of their own to take control of the game with a 25-15 third set. In the final set, the Panthers built another 9-point lead, and then held on after a furious Fredonia rally to close the match with a 25-22 win.
The Panthers took an early 4-2 lead in the opening set behind a pair of Hannah Hirata aces, but quickly saw the hosts go ahead with 3 straight points. The Panthers responded with a 4-1 run to retake the lead before the teams exchanged 3-point rallies. Leading 16-15, the Panthers took control of the set behind a kill and a pair of aces from Lillian Bentley. The teams exchanged sideouts until the Blue Devils cut the lead to 2 after three straight Panther hitting errors. A Fredonia service error stopped the rally, and then Hirata tallied another ace to win the set.
Pitt-Bradford had a strong start to the second set, but after winning 5 of the first 8 points, fell behind the hosts. Fredonia scored 11 of the next 14 points to open up a 14-8 lead. Trailing 22-15, the Panthers scored 5 straight points on three Ruby Smith kills and a pair of hitting errors to trim the deficit to two. Unfortunately, they could not complete the comeback, and Fredonia closed the set with a 3-1 run.
In the third set, the teams shared the first 10 points, but after a service error gave the Panthers a lead, Bentley served Pitt-Bradford to seven straight points. She had four aces in the run, while Brooke DeYoe and Marissa Bowman tallied kills. The hosts had a short rally to cut the lead to 5, but the Panthers answered and eventually pushed their lead to double digits after an Alycia Wilson kill. The teams exchanged service errors late before Smith put down a kill to give the Panthers a 2-1 set advantage.
The Panthers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the fourth, but the hosts came right back with 4 straight points on Pitt-Bradford hitting errors. The Panthers had an answer, however, and were able to take control of the set with a 6-1 rally. The Panthers slowly added to their lead throughout the set, taking a 9-point edge at match point after a Smith kill. Fredonia put together one final rally, scoring 7 consecutive points to trim the advantage to just 2 points. The Panthers were finally able to close the game when Smith recorded her 15th kill of the match.
Ruby Smith led the Panthers with 15 kills in the match. She hit .182 and also tallied 9 digs. Alycia Wilson added 9 kills, while also collecting 18 digs. Lillian Bentley finished with 6 kills, but made her mark at the service line, tallying 7 aces. Jenna Louser had an efficient match in the middle, hitting .462 on 7 kills. Marissa Bowman dished out 27 assists, while also adding 3 kills. Libero Danielle Sasuga finished with 11 digs.
The win moves the Panthers to 8-1 on the season. They will return to action over the weekend, when they head to Oswego, NY, to play in the Oswego State Invitational. The Panthers will play 4 games, beginning on Friday, when they will take on Utica at 4, and SUNY Canton at 8.
