Sweet Briar, VA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team started a three-game weekend in Virginia on Friday night, defeating Sweet Briar 3-0.
The Panthers made quick work of the Vixens, winning the first set 25-5 and the second 25-6. They were not as efficient in the third set, but were able to finish off the match with a 25-10 win.
The Panthers came out of the gates red hot, scoring the first ten points of the match. The hosts struggled to corral Marissa Bowman's serves, as she tallied 4 aces in the stretch. A service error ended the run, but the Panthers got the serve right back and started a new rally with kills by Lillian Bentley and Brooke DeYoe. Alycia Wilson then served the Panthers to six more points, pushing the lead to 17. The Panthers were able to see out the set from there, using aces from Danielle Sasuga and Baylee Fitzsimmons and kills from Bentley and Jenna Louser to finish the set 25-5.
Pitt-Bradford committed a service error to open set two, but another Bentley kill returned the serve to the Panthers, who pounced for six points. Wilson added two more aces to her tally. After an exchange of service errors, Fitzsimmons stepped to the service line and led a long rally that saw Pitt-Bradford score the next 15 points. She had 5 aces in the stretch, while Jailynn Baker and Alyssa Spang put down kills. The hosts put on a short rally with a 4-1 run, but Hannah Hirata finished the set with a kill followed by an ace.
Sweet Briar scored the first two points of set three, but could not hold down the Panthers for long. After a Wilson kill, Molly Blystone took the serve and led Pitt-Bradford to 11 consecutive points. Blystone tallied 4 aces, while Bentley and Ryley Pago had kills. Following a Vixens kill, the Panthers added 5 more to their advantage in a run that included another kill for Pago and a Hirata ace. The hosts showed some fight down the stretch, nearly matching the Panthers with 7 points, but the lead proved far too great, and the Panthers limited the Vixens to short one or two-point rallies to finish the match. Louser added three kills and an ace in the stretch, while Fitzsimmons and Spang added aces of their own.
The Panthers were highly efficient in the match, converting 17 kills on 33 attacks. Lillian Bentley led the way with 5 kills, while Jenna Louser added 4. They tallied 23 aces in the victory. Baylee Fitzsimmons paced the team with 7, while Marissa Bowman and Molly Blystone had 4 each. Abby King tallied 6 assists in the win, while Alycia Wilson and Eva Kyanvash ech had 3 digs.
The win moves Pitt-Bradford to 12-3 on the season. They will be right back in action tomorrow, when they will play two more matches at the Randolph Trimatch. They will begin with a matchup against the hosts, Randolph, before closing with a showdown with Lynchburg, who enter the weekend following a win over #6 Washington and Lee. The action begins at 11:00 a.m.
