Box Score 
The favorites to win the Eastern and Western divisions in the conference faced each other when Pitt-Johnstown hosted Clarion University in Friday night's PSAC Crossover Match in the Sports Center. After falling behind 2-sets-to-1, Clarion came back to win the next two, including erasing a 5-point in the fifth set, to end Pitt-Johnstown's winning streak at 13 matches.
Marissa Erminio had a match-high 17 kills and six digs for the Lady Cats, who slipped to 17-3 overall 10-1 in the PSAC East.
Clarion ran out to a 10-4 first-set lead on Morgan Seybold's service ace. Pitt-Johnstown battled back with a 9-3 run, capped by
Cambria Wierman's kill, that knotted it at 13. The Golden Eagles regained the lead 17-14, but the Lady Cats were able to take their first lead at 19-18, before
Allison Mondorff's kill put Pitt-Johnstown in front by two. However, Clarion broke a 24-24 tie with the help of two Pitt-Johnstown errors to claim the first set 26-24.
Two kills by Wierman early in the second set gave Pitt-Johnstown a 5-1 advantage. The Lady Cats extended it to 16-10 on
Maura Brehl's service, before Clarion slowly got back in it. A Marissa Robertson kill followed by a Pitt-Johnstown attack error narrowed the Golden Eagles' deficit to 19-18, but the Lady Cats recovered and pushed it out to 21-18 on
Madeline George and Brehl's shared block, and went on to even the match with the 25-21 win.
Pitt-Johnstown held the momentum in a big way to begin the third set. Erminio,
Kendall Mahony, and Mondorff combined for 10 kills to help the Lady Cats build a 16-4 lead. Clarion tried to get back in it and cut the deficit to 17-9, but another Mahony kill got the lead back into double-digits, and Pitt-Johnstown rolled to the 25-14 victory.
Facing elimination, Clarion came out in the third set and led wire-to-wire to stay alive and force a fifth set with a 25-14 win. The Golden Eagles opened-up three four-point leads, before Catherine Ferragonio's service ace extended it to 21-15. Pitt-Johnstown was never able to get closer than five the rest of the way.
Erminio's kill and a Clarion attack error gave Pitt-Johnstown an 8-3 lead in the final set, but the Golden Eagles stormed back to outscore the Lady Cats 12-3 to complete the comeback and seal the victory.
Along with Erminio, Wierman had 11 kills and nine digs, and Mahony added 11 kills and three blocks for the Lady Cats. Mondorff tallied eight kills, 31 set assists, and 14 digs, while Brehl had seven kills, a pair of blocks, and two aces.
Pitt-Johnstown also got 21 assists from
Jessica Dillon, a match-high 37 digs from
Devan Orr, and 12 digs from
Delaney Roman in the loss.
Clarion, which improved 12-10 overall and 12-3 in the PSAC West, was led by Gabrielle Olson's 16 kills and six blocks. Taylor Braunagel chipped in 13 kills and three blocks, and Robertson had 11 kills and 11 digs.
The Lady Cats wrap-up the PSAC Crossover on Saturday in the Sports Center against Seton Hill University at 10 a.m. and California University (PA) at 6 p.m., before hosting a non-conference match against Shepherd on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
