Kelsey Ansec and Ally Smith combined for 42 kills to help second-seeded Gannon University end Pitt-Johnstown's season with a four-set victory in Friday evening's 2017 NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Volleyball Semifinals at the McDonough Center in Wheeling, W.Va.
Marissa Erminio, an All-Atlantic Region Tournament Team selection, had a team-high 12 kills and 17 digs for Pitt-Johnstown, which closed out the season with a 27-9 overall record.
Gannon took the opening set 25-14, before the Mountain Cats evened the match with a 25-22 win. However, the Golden Knights won the third set 25-17 and held on for a 25-23 victory in the fourth set.
Two Smith kills and a Maggie Wilhelm block gave Gannon a 6-1 lead to start the match, but Pitt-Johnstown answered with three kills from Erminio and a
Noelle Carota block to narrow the gap to 9-8. However, the Golden Knights outscored the Mountain Cats, 16-6 the rest of the way. Ashley Beyers and Ansec combined for six points in a 10-0 Gannon run the made it 19-8, and Smith's kill, followed by a Pitt-Johnstown attack error gave the Golden Knights the 25-14 opening set win.
In the second set, the Mountain Cats scored four straight points to erase a two-point deficit and go in front 13-11 on a
Caitlin Vrabel service ace and two Gannon attack errors, before the Golden Knights answered with an 8-2 run, capped by two more Smith kills, to retake the lead 19-15. Pitt-Johnstown came right back with seven unanswered points to go back in front 22-20 on
Cambria Wierman's kill and a Gannon error and went on to win the set 25-22 with an ace from
Allison Mondorff and a block by Vrabel and
Maura Brehl.
Gannon climbed out to a 13-10 lead midway through the on a block from Beyers, then took advantage of a kill from Ansec and a Pitt-Johnstown attack error to close out a 10-3 run that put the Golden Knights up 21-13. The Mountain Cats cut it to six, but Gannon was able to go on to the 25-17 win with Ashley Kerestes' kill and take a 2-sets-to-1 lead.
Pitt-Johnstown battled back from an early four-point fourth set deficit to knot it at nine on Mondorff's block and Brehl and Vrabel's block, before Gannon went on a 7-2 run to push the lead out to 16-11. The Mountain Cats tied it at 18 and retook the lead, 19-18 on
Devan Orr's ace. Gannon went back up 21-19 and never trailed again on its way to earning a spot in the Regional Finals on Ansec's 24
th kills of the match.
Along with Erminio, Wierman had eight kills, 17 digs, and two blocks, while
Kendall Mahony added six kills and four blocks for Pitt-Johnstown. Brehl finished with four kills and three blocks, while Vrabel (5 blocks) and Carota (4 blocks) combined for nine blocks.
J.C. Longeville's 16 set assists and five digs, and Mondorff's nine assists, five digs, and three aces paced Pitt-Johnstown.
Devan Orr, the PSAC's all-time leader in digs, finished with 16 digs, two aces, and two assists.
The Golden Knights, who improved to 30-9 and advance to take on the winner of the No. 1 Seed Wheeling Jesuit-No. 4 Seed IUP match for the Atlantic Region Championship on Saturday, got a match-high 24 kills from Ansec and 18 kills, 17 digs, and a pair of blocks from Smith.
