Kendall Mahony and Caitlin Vrabel each had 11 kills, and Marissa Erminio added 10 kills in Pitt-Johnstown's 3-sets-to-1 PSAC volleyball victory over Slippery Rock University, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center.  The Mountain Cats improved 12-3 overall and 2-0 in the PSAC Central Division.
 
Pitt-Johnstown took the first 25-21, but Slippery Rock responded with a 25-23 win in the second set.  The Mountain Cats regained control and cruised to 25-14 and 25-12 in the final two sets.
 
Slippery Rock kept the opening set close and took advantage of three consecutive Pitt-Johnstown errors to go in front 13-10.  The Mountain Cats came right back to tie it on Cambria Wierman's kill, before regaining the lead for good at 15-14 on a Slippery Rock attack error.  Two more Slippery Rock errors gave Pitt-Johnstown a five-point lead at 23-19, and Kendall Mahony's kill wrapped-up the 25-21 victory.
 
Just like the first set, The Rock climbed out to a 13-10 lead.  But this time, Slippery Rock was able to hold off a late Pitt-Johnstown run to even the match at one set apiece with a 25-23 victory.  The Rock pushed its three-point lead to 22-16 with a Brooke Boswick block.  The Mountain Cats answered with a 7-2 run to get to within one at 24-23 on another kill from Mahony.  However, following a Slippery Rock timeout, Erinn Kahoe ended the set with a kill for The Rock.
 
Pitt-Johnstown took control early and led wire-to-wire in the third set on its way to a 25-14 win.  The Mountain Cats broke open a two-point set with an 8-2 run, capped by a Naoelle Carota kill and a Mahony service ace, to climb out to an 18-10 lead.  Pitt-Johnstown got the lead into double-figures on Vrabel's kill, then closed the set out with Cambria Wierman's kill and a Slippery Rock attack error.
 
It was all Mountain Cats in the final set.  After Slippery Rock narrowed a six-point deficit to 12-9, Pitt-Johnstown outscored The Rock 13-3 the rest of the way, including a 10-0 spurt, on its way to the 25-12 victory.  Ten consecutive Pitt-Johnstown points on Allison Mondorff's serve increased the Mountain Cats' advantage to 22-12 on three straight Vrabel kills and a pair of Slippery Rock errors.  Leading 24-12, Erminio's 10^th kills of the day sealed the Pitt-Johnstown victory with a kill.
 
Vrabel finished with 11 kills and four blocks, while Mahony had 11 kills and three blocks to lead the Mountain Cats.  Erminio tallied 10 kills, one block and 19 digs to round out the three Pitt-Johnstown players who ended the day with double figure kills.
 
Wierman chipped in nine kills, two blocks, and seven digs, and Carota had eight kills and five digs.
 
J.C. Longeville and Mondorff tied for match-high with 23 set assists apiece, and Devan Orr had a team-high 20 digs.
 
Shayla Ray had 10 kills and Stephanie Jacobsen had eight kills to lead Slippery Rock, which fell to 8-6 overall and 0-2 in the PSAC Northwest Division.
 
Pitt-Johnstown travels to conference matches at Gannon University and Mercyhurst University next weekend, before hosting PSAC matches against Cheyney University on October 6 at 7 p.m. and West Chester University on October 7 at 1 p.m.  Due to construction on the Sports Center floor, the home matches on October 6 and 7 will be played at an off-campus location.