After opening the Ashland University/Quality Inn Tournament with three straight victories, the Pitt-Johnstown volleyball team got nine kills from All-Tournament Team selection Noelle Carota and eight kills and five digs from Cambria Wierman, but the host school handed the Mountain Cats a 25-22, 26-24, 25-13 loss to close out the tournament, Saturday night.
 
In a tight opening set, Pitt-Johnstown took advantage of an Ashland error to narrow the gap to 21-20, but the Eagles went on to outscore the Mountain Cats 4-1 the rest of the way.  A kill by Sophi Cudworth made it 24-22, before Reanne Neal and Kayla Pfeiffer combined for a block that gave Ashland the 25-22 win.
 
In the second set, Marissa Erminio's kill and an Ashland attack error gave Pitt-Johnstown an early two-point advantage.  The Mountain Cats still held a one-point lead, but the Eagles scored the next five, including two kills apiece from Neal and Cudworth to go up by 14-10.  Pitt-Johnstown kept it close and tied it at 21, then at 24 on Erminio's kill and an Ashland error, the but Eagles scored the final two points to take the second set 26-24.
 
It was all Ashland in the final set.  The Eagles raced out to a Kaitlin Bean service ace and completed the sweep with the 25-13 victory.
 
Along with Carota and Wierman, Pitt-Johnstown got seven kills and seven digs from Erminio, five kills and four blocks from Caitlin Vrabel, and five kills from Kendall Mahony.
 
J.C. Longeville (17 assists) and Allison Mondorff (15 assists) combined for 32 set assists, and Devan Orr, named to the All-Tournament Team, finished with a team-high 18 digs for the Mountain Cats.
 
Cudworth (13 kills), Shelby Woycik (9 kills), and Neal (8 kills) paced the Eagles and helped Ashland improve to 4-0.
  Pitt-Johnstown travels to a non-conference match at Point Park on Tuesday, before traveling to the Walsh (OH) University Tournament for four matches on Friday and Saturday.