Fourth-seeded Pitt-Johnstown fell behind by two sets, but rallied behind tournament Most Valuable Player Marissa Erminio's 11 kills and 18 digs to win the 2017 PSAC Championship in five sets over second-seeded Gannon University, Saturday night in Erie.  Pitt-Johnstown, which avenged last year's loss to the Golden Knights in the title match, earned an automatic bid the NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament on November 30 and improved to 26-8.
 
After falling behind with 25-17 and 25-23 losses, the Mountain Cats answered with 25-21, 25-12 and 15-13 wins to claim the title.
 
Three straight service aces from Ashley Beyers to start the match helped Gannon jump out to a 5-0 lead.  The Golden Knights increased the lead to seven, before a pair of Cambria Wierman kills cut Pitt-Johnstown's deficit to 12-7.  Gannon eventually pushed it out to 16-7, before Caitlin Vrabel's kills got the Mountain Cats back to within three.  However, The Golden Knights scored four of the last five points to take the set 25-17.
 
Kendall Mahony kill and a Gannon bad set gave Pitt-Johnstown its first lead early in the second set.  The Mountain Cats increased it to 10-7 then to 22-17 on Wierman's kill and a Golden Knights' attack error.  It was all Gannon after that.  The Golden Knights stormed back with an 8-1 run to win the set, 25-23.  Two straight points from Kelsey Ansec and another ace from Beyers knotted it at 23, before back-to-back Mountain Cat errors finished it.
 
Pitt-Johnstown took advantage of a Mahony/Noelle Carota block and eight Gannon errors to race out to a 12-4 lead in the third set.  The Golden Knights hung around and got it down to three, but a kill and a block from Mahony to the Mountain Cats' lead back out to five.  Gannon answered with a 7-1 run behind three straight kills from Ally Smith to go in front 20-19, before Pitt-Johnstown regained control and stayed alive with a 25-21 victory.
 
Pitt-Johnstown kept the momentum in the fourth set and got three straight kills from Marissa Erminio and a service ace from Caitlin Vrabel to jump out to an 8-1 lead.  The Golden Knights clawed back to within four at 12-8 on Ansec's kill, but the Mountain Cats dominated the rest of the set and outscored Gannon 13-4 to force a fifth set.  Maura Brehl and Carota had kills to increase push it into double digits, and a pair of Devan Orr aces and a Wierman kill gave Pitt-Johnstown the 25-12 win.
 
In a race to 15 in the final set, battled back from a pair of 2-point deficits, before Wierman's ace and a Gannon error gave the Mountain Cats a 10-8 lead.  Kills by Brehl and Mahony extended it to 12-9.  The Golden Knights fought off a match-point to narrow it to 14-13, but Carota followed with the title winning kill and a 15-13 Pitt-Johnstown victory.
 
Along with Erminio, Wierman had nine kills, 17 digs, and three blocks, and Brehl had nine kills and four blocks for Pitt-Johnstown.  The Mountain Cats also got seven kills and 10 blocks from Mahony, seven kills and five blocks from Carota, and five kills, four blocks, and three aces from Vrabel.
 
J.C. Longeville's 20 set assists six digs and Allison Mondorff's 17 assists and seven digs paced Pitt-Johnstown.  Orr had 29 digs and a pair of aces.
 
Ansec had a match-high 16 kills and four blocks, and Ally Smith collected 14 kills and 22 digs for Gannon, which slipped to 28-6.