Box Score
Kendall Mahony had 18 kills to lead No. 3-seeded Pitt-Johnstown to a hard fought 3-sets-to-1 victory over No. 7-seeded Indiana (PA) in Friday's first semifinal match of the 2016 PSAC Volleyball Championships, hosted by Gannon University.  The Lady Cats, 24-8 on the year, advance to take on the winner of the top-seeded Gannon and No. 4-seeded California (PA) in Saturday's PSAC Championship match.  Start time for the title match is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
Pitt-Johnstown took the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-22, before IUP responded with a 28-26 win to stay alive.  However, the Lady Cats sealed the victory with another 25-22 win in the fourth set.
 
IUP started fast and opened up a five-point lead, before Lily McWilliams' kills gave the Crimson Hawks a 13-7 first set lead.  Pitt-Johnstown responded with an 11-4 run to regain the lead.  Maura Brehl's kill tied and a bad set by IUP put the Lady Cats up 18-17.  The Crimson Hawks cut it to one two, with the last coming at 21-20 on Natalie Cignetti's kill, but Pitt-Johnstown never gave up the lead and took the set 25-23 on a pair of kills from Mahony.
 
In the second set, the Lady Cats led wire-to-wire and held on for a 25-22 win to go up 2-sets-to-none.  Pitt-Johnstown climbed out to a 7-2 lead, then extended it to 11-5 on Delaney Roman's service ace. IUP climbed back in it and pulled to within one at 23-22, but the Lady Cats took advantage of Crimson hawks service error and a Mahony kill to finish out the set.
 
Gabby Egler's kill early in the third set helped IUP open-up a 9-6 lead, but kills by Mahony and Cambria Wierman quickly tie it.  The Crimson Hawks used kills from McWilliams and Kaitlyn Palmer to rebuild the lead to 15-11, before two kills by Marissa Erminio and an ace from Roman capped a 6-1 Lady Cat run to give Pitt-Johnstown its first lead of the set at 17-16.  It remained close the rest of the way, but with the score tied at 26, Palmer kept the Crimson Hawks alive with a pair of kills in a 28-26 victory.
 
Pitt-Johnstown ran out to a five-point lead on three Mahony kills to begin the third set, but IUP answered with a 9-3 run to take a 10-9 lead on Breanna Damiani's ace.  After IUP tie it at 19, the Lady Cats finished strong and got a kill from Mahony, followed by a Crimson Hawks error to close out the 25-22 win and advance to Saturday's title mat14 digsch.
 
Mahony had 18 kills and two blocks, and Erminio added 12 kills to lead Pitt-Johnstown.  Wierman finished with nine kills and 15 digs, while Anna Johns and Brehl each had five kills.
 
Allison Mondorff led the way for the Lady Cats with 41 set assists and 14 digs.  Devan Orr collected 36 digs, and Roman chipped-in a pair of aces and seven digs.
 
IUP, which slipped to 20-11 on the season, had three player end the evening with double figure kills, including Cignetti, who had 18 kills and 21 digs.  The Crimson Hawks also got 17 kills and 14 digs from Palmer, and 11 kills, six blocks, 13 digs from McWilliams in a losing cause.