Box Score
The Pitt-Johnstown volleyball team made its 2016 home opener a good one on Friday by sweeping Mercyhurst 25-16, 25-16, 25-17 in the Sports Center.  Cambria Wierman, Kendall Mahony, and Marissa Erminio all had seven kills to lead the Lady Cats, who improved to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in the PSAC Central.
 
In the opening set, Pitt-Johnstown scored six straight points to go in front 9-4 on Devan Orr's service ace and a kill from Wierman.  Mercyhurst cut it to 9-7 on a Lady Cat attack error, but that was as close as the Lakers could get.  Pitt-Johnstown regained control and extended it to 18-8 on Mahony's ace.  Maura Brehl's kill made it 24-13, before closing out the 25-16 win on another kill from Brehl.
 
Pitt-Johnstown scored dominated the second set and used a kill from Wierman and a Mercyhurst attack error to race out to an 11-3 lead.  Lauren Kenny's kill followed by a Lady Cat error got the Lakers to within five at 14-9, but it was all Pitt-Johnstown after that.  A 10-4 Pitt-Johnstown run put the Lady Cats up 24-13, before Wierman's kill closed out another 25-16 victory.
 
The trend continued, as Pitt-Johnstown stormed out to a 9-2 lead.  Mercyhurst battled all the way back to knot it at 14 on back-to-back kills by Alyssa Zirnheld.  However, the Lady Cats finished the sweep with an 11-3 run the rest of the way.  After the Lakers tied it, Pitt-Johnstown scored the next five points, including Catilin Vrabel's kill that made it 19-14.  The Lady Cats went on to seal the 25-17 win and secure the sweep on two straight Mercyhurst errors.
 
Mahony finished with seven kills, seven service aces, and a block assist, while Wierman had seven kills and eight digs and Erminio had seven kills, and a pair of blocks assists to pace Pitt-Johnstown.  The Lady Cats also got six kills and four digs from Brehl.
 
Allison Mondorff tallied a match-high 26 set assists and seven digs, and Orr collected a match-high 12 digs.
 
Mercyhurst, which fell to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in the PSAC Northwest, was led by Shelby Chesko's seven kills and Kenny's six kills.
 
Pitt-Johnstown hosts a PSAC match against Gannon on Saturday at 1 p.m., before traveling to conference matches at West Chester and Cheyney next weekend.