Their first game was a win against Rio Grande before the first class was in session and their first major injury to a junior who had 236 kills the year before was not long after. They won against their cross town rivals Carlow but lost to their conference rivals Walsh for the third year.The team went on a six game win streak entering the league championships before a heartbreaking loss against Cedarville three games to none to end their season.With that first round loss in the American Mideast Conference tournament in Mt. Vernon, Ohio it ended their long season with a record of 29-10, the second most wins to last year’s team, the best in the school’s history.            “The expectation is to make playoffs and play well,” said head coach Mike Bruno. The team has made the playoffs four out of the last five years.             The year started out promising, graduating only one senior and the team coming off a season with the most wins and the first playoff championship appearance in the school’s history. The team had three wins and two loses in their first five games.            That promise was questioned early with injuries coming to the team, most notably when junior outside hitter Zoe Hughes tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus. Hughes went up at the net midway through the second set against Westminster College and when she landed her knee buckled causing her serious pain.  This was only six games into the season.            “Losing people due to injuries, we had to come through a lot,” said sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Oberacker.             The team was able to persevere by adjusting to the lost of Hughes and won the tournament they hosted against local teams Seton Hill, Pitt-Johnstown, and Slippery Rock.  The Pioneers then played their first AMC league game crushing their cross town rivals Carlow University three games to none. In their first home conference game against Walsh, the team that beat them in last year’s championship game, proved to once again be a formidable foe.  After spike out-of-bounds by Walsh the Pioneers won the set 25-18.  But Walsh came back strong winning the second set 25-19.  The third set was hard fought and Point Park had a late lead of 20-19 after Oberacker served up an ace.  But after a serve error and spike out of bounds by the Pioneers Walsh took the lead 22-20.  Point Park was only able to get one more point off of a spike by senior right side hitter Rachel Roddy and lost the set 25-21. Walsh wasn’t going to succumb took an early lead of 14-10 in the fourth set.  Things looked promising for the Pioneers after an Oberacker kill bringing them within one point of the lead with a score of 17-16.  But the Pioneers couldn’t hang on and lost the game 25-20 giving Walsh the match win. “We played a set and they out worked us,” said Bruno after the game. It was a rough lose and another down turn for the team.  The team needed a rejuvenation which they thought might come after big wins in a tournament in Florida.  Point Park won four out of five games including a win over host team Clearwater Christian. “They are a big deal where they are from,” said Oberacker after the tournament. The temporary upswing did not extend into conference play as the team lost their next home game to Mt. Vernon Nazarene.  The Pioneers lost the first and a close second set with scores of 25-17 and 26-24.  The team was able to come back and win the third set with a score of 25-11.  In the fourth set Mt. Vernon took a commanding lead and looked to have the win with the score 24-15. Roddy had a timely kill.  Mt. Vernon then had an attack error pulling the team within seven.  Freshman outside hitter Chelsea Katkich and Roddy had back to back kills bringing them within five points of the lead.  Katkich had another kill and Mt. Vernon had a blocking error to reduce the gap to three before garnering the win and forcing a fifth set as fans cheered wildly.     But their hopes were crushed with a timely kill from Mt. Vernon to end the game 25-21. “The team was not collectively prepared,” said Bruno after the tough loss.  While the team struggled in wins and losses and mentality, they found comfort in something that had nothing to do with the game when they hosted the Volley for Vision fundraiser. The Pioneers turned their focus to something that was very close to the team, raising money for The Association of Retinopathy of Prematurity and Related Diseases (ROPARD) in their Volley for Vision games.  The money raised by admission and concessions were all donated to ROPARD in addition to pledges that were made for each dig made by the Pioneers.  The team had 56 digs in their match against West Liberty to help the cause.  They gained a much needed win to bring its record to 22-8 overall, even though the league losses had piled up. “It’s my favorite day of the year,” said Bruno. Fresh from that win, the team then suffered another devastating conference lose against Malone University with scores of 25-21, 25-20, and 25-16.  This was only the third time the team was shut out this season.  This left the team with a conference record of 3-2 which also propelled them into a team meeting to figure out what was wrong–they decided they played better when they were more relaxed.   “After the last couple games we sat down and talked it out,” said sophomore defensive specialist Margaret “MJ” Gillooly.