Maura Brehl finished with a match-high 10 kills, while Marissa Erminio had nine kills to help the Pitt-Johnstown volleyball team open the 2017 season with a 25-15, 25-22, 25-18 victory over Urbana (OH) in Friday's First Round of the Ashland (OH)/Quality Inn Tournament.
 
Pitt-Johnstown raced out to an 11-2 first-set lead on an Erminio kill, followed by an Urbana attack error.  The Blue Knights came back to cut it to 15-12 on Alyssa Myers' service ace, but Pitt-Johnstown quickly regained control and went on to outscore Urbana, 10-3, the rest of the way to close out the 25-15 with a Kendall Mahony kill.
 
In a tight second set, J.C. Longeville's ace put the Mountain Cats in front 15-12, before Urbana regained the lead, 22-21 on Emilee Skerbetz's kills and a Pitt-Johnstown error.  However, Pitt-Johnstown scored the next four, including kills from Erminio and Allison Mondorff, to finish off the 25-22 victory.
 
After Urbana opened-up a two-point advantage midway the final set, the Mountain Cats used a 14-5 run to seal the sweep.  Brehl's kill ended a 9-4 run put Pitt-Johnstown up 20-17, before kills from Erminio and Brehl set the final at 25-18.
 
Brehl's 10 kills and one block and Erminio's nine kills led the way for Pitt-Johnstown.  Mahony had eight kills, a block, and two aces, and Vrabel had eight kills.  The Mountain Cats also got seven kills and three aces from Cambria Wierman.
 
Mondorff finished with three kills, six digs, and a match-high 20 set assists, and Longeville had two aces, 19 assists, and five digs.  Devan Orr collected a match-high 10 digs and two aces, and Delaney Roman added five digs and an ace.
 
Skerbetz tallied seven kills, and Kaitlin Trace and Katlynn Dunlap each had six kills to pace the Blue Knights.
 
Pitt-Johnstown continues the Ashland Tournament against Lake Erie (OH) on Friday at 4:30 p.m., before closing it out on Saturday with matches against Truman State (MO) at 11:30 a.m. and Ashland at 7 p.m.