Marissa Erminio had a match-high 22 kills and 14 digs, but Shippensburg University outlasted Pitt-Johnstown on Senior Day for a five-set PSAC victory. Despite the loss, Pitt-Johnstown, ranked third in the Atlantic Region at 23-8 overall and 13-5 in the PSAC Central Division, clinched an opening round PSAC Tournament home match on Tuesday on a tiebreaker of having won more sets during the regular season.
Prior to the match, Pitt-Johnstown recognized this year seniors…
Gabriell Carney,
Marissa Erminio,
Kendall Mahony,
Allison Mondorff,
Devan Orr,
Delaney Roman, and
Cambria Wierman.
Pitt-Johnstown never trailed in the opening set on got a Deva Orr service ace to go up 8-4. The Mountain Cats increased it to 17-9 on
Noelle Carota's kill and closed out the 25-17 win kills from Carota and Erminio.
In the second set, neither team was able to take a lead larger than two until Shippensburg ran off three straight points to go up 15-12 on Kendall Johnson and Morgan DeFloria's combined block. The Mountain Cats came back to tie at 18 on
Maura Brehl's kill, Before regaining the lead by two, but the Raiders outscored Pitt-Johnstown 5-1 down the stretch to take a 25-23 win on DeFloria's kill.
With the match tie at one, the Raiders climbed out to a 6-2 lead in the third set. The Mountain Cats answered to tie it at 11, then again at 16 on
Caitlin Vrabel's kill. Shippensburg ran off the next six points to rebuild the lead to 22-16 with Gabriella Johnson's kill and a Pitt-Johnstown ball handling error. After the Mountain Cats narrowed it to 23-21, Shippensburg got kills from Samantha Webber and Johnson to secure a 25-21 victory.
Pitt-Johnstown started the fourth set slow and fell behind 8-4. However, the Mountain Cats went on to outscore Shippensburg 21-8 the rest of the way to even the match with a 25-16 win. Pitt-Johnstown tied it at 12, then took its first lead of the set on the next point with Erminio's kill. The Mountain Cats never gave up the lead and pushed it out to 20-15, before
Cambria Wierman's kill forced a fifth set.
Brehl's kill helped Pitt-Johnstown to a 10-8 lead in the final set, but the Raiders clawed back to tie it at 13 and clinched the 15-13 win on back-to-back kills from Kendall Johnson.
Along with Erminio, Vrabel had 12 kills and Brehl chipped-in 10 kills and a pair of blocks to lead Pitt-Johnstown. Wierman had nine kills, 17 digs, and two aces, while Carota had nine kills and Mahony tallied eight kills and three blocks.
J.C. Longville's 36 set assists paced the Mountain Cats. Mondorff had 25 assists and 11 digs, and Orr finished with a match-high 22 digs.
DeFloria's 17 kills and 13 digs led three Shippensburg players who finished in double figures in kills. Kendall Johnson had 13 kills and Gabriella Johnson had a dozen kills for the Raiders, who improved to 21-10 overall and 13-5 in the PSAC Central.
Pitt-Johnstown will open the 2017 PSAC Tournament in the Sports Center on Tuesday against an opponent to be determined. The PSAC Semifinals are scheduled for Friday and the finals are scheduled for Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
