For the second time in as many years, Head Coach Joanna Haupt's Pitt-Johnstown women's volleyball team has earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Volleyball Semifinals.  No. 3-seeded Pitt-Johnstown will meet with No. 2-seeded Gannon University for third time this season on Friday at 5 p.m. at the McDonough Center in Wheeling, W.Va.
 
The winners of each of the eight regionals will advance to the NCAA finals, Dec. 7-9, at the UWF Field House in Pensacola, Fla. Competition at the finals site will be single-elimination; best three-of-five-set matches.
   
Pitt-Johnstown, 27-8 on the year, earned its spot in the semifinals with a 29-27, 25-13, 25-11 sweep over sixth-seeded Seton Hill University in Thursday's quarterfinals.  Marissa Erminio finished with a match-high 14 kills, seven digs, and two blocks to lead the Mountain Cats.  In addition, Maura Brehl had nine kills and five blocks, while Kendall Mahony collected seven kills and five blocks, and Noelle Carota had seven kills and a pair of blocks.
 
Gannon, which improved to 29-6, advanced to the semifinals with a four-set victory over seventh-seeded Shippensburg University on Thursday.  Ally Smith's match-high 20 kills and 12 digs and Kelsey Ansec's 18 kills led the way for the Golden Knights.
 
Pitt-Johnstown and Gannon split a pair of matches this season.  On September 29 in Erie, the Golden Knights came away with a 3-sets-to-1 victory (25-21, 31-29, 21-25, 25-20). Ansec had a match-high 17 kills, while Ashley Kerestes and Smith had 16 and 10 kills, respectively for the Golden Knights.  The Mountain Cats were led by Erminio's 11 kills and Wierman's nine kills.  The Mountain Cats then battled back from a 2-sets-to-none deficit to win the PSAC Tournament Championship over the Golden Knights in five sets on November 18.  Erminio, the PSAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, had 11 kills and 18 digs, while Cambria Wierman had nine kills, 17 digs, and three blocks, and Brehl had nine kills and four blocks for Pitt-Johnstown.  Ansec had a match-high 16 kills and four blocks, and Ally Smith collected 14 kills and 22 digs for Gannon.