Marissa Erminio finished with a match-high 11 kills nine digs, and three blocks, but Gannon University won the first two sets and went on to a 3-sets to-1 PSAC victory over the Pitt-Johnstown volleyball, Friday night in Erie.  The Mountain Cats slipped to 12-4 overall and 2-1 in the PSAC Central Division.
 
The Golden Knights took the first two sets 25-21 and 31-29, before Pitt-Johnstown responded with a 25-21 win.  Gannon then closed it out with a 25-20 victory.
 
Pitt-Johnstown started fast and opened-up a 10-4 lead to start the first set.  Cambria Wierman's kill put the Mountain Cats in front, before a kill from Kendall Mahony and a Gannon attack error increased the lead to six.  The Golden Knights followed with a 10-2 run to regain the lead 14-12, capped by Carolyn Knollman's kills and a Pitt-Johnstown error.  The Mountain Cats knotted it at 20, but Gannon scored five of the next six points to take the set, 25-21.
 
In the second set, the Golden Knights erased an early four-point deficit to take a 10-9 lead on Knollman's kill and a Mountain Cat error.  Pitt-Johnstown quickly regained the lead and took a 23-21 advantage on Mahony's kill, but Gannon fought back to even the score at 24.  After Caitlin Vrabel's kill tied it at 25 for Pitt-Johnstown to force extra points, the Golden Knight had three serves to win the set, before a Mountain Cat and a Rebekah Smith/Maggie Wilhelm combined block gave Gannon the 31-29 win.
 
Pitt-Johnstown got a pair of service aces from Devan Orr and two kills from Erminio and took advantage of six Golden Knights' errors to storm out to an 11-2 lead to begin the third set.  Gannon answered with a 12-3 run of its own to tie it on an Ashley Kerestes kills, before taking its first lead of the set at 16-15 on a Lexi Johnson-Kelsey Ansec block.  The Mountain Cats recovered to take a two-point lead on Erminio's kills and never trailed again.  Pitt-Johnstown wrapped-up the 25-21 victory on four straight Noelle Carota kills and a kill from Vrabel.
 
Ansec's kill closed out a 4-0 Gannon spurt that put the Golden Knights up 14-10 midway through the fourth set.  Gannon increased it to 20-13, before Pitt-Johnstown battled back to narrow it to 23-20 on kills from Wierman and Maura Brehl.  However, Ally Smith's kills, followed by a Mountain Cat attack error gave the Golden Knights the 25-20 win and the match, 3-sets-to-1.
 
Along with Erminio's 11 kills, Wierman had nine kills, a block, and nine digs, and Vrabel collected eight killsand three blocks for Pitt-Johnstown.  Mahony also had six kills, one block, and two service aces.
 
J.C. Longeville had 20 set assists and 10 digs, while Allison Mondorff tallied 19 assists and 10 digs.  Orr finished with a match-high 25 digs and a pair of aces.
 
Gannon, which improved to 12-3 overall and 2-1 in the PSAC Northwest Division, was led by Ally Smith's 10 kills, four blocks, and 17 digs, and Rebekah Smith's nine kills and two blocks.
 
Pitt-Johnstown travels to a PSAC match at Mercyhurst on Saturday, before returning home to host conference matches against Cheyney on Friday and West Chester on Saturday.  Due to construction in the Sports Center, the Cheyney match will be played on Friday at 7 p.m. at Greater Johnstown High School, and the West Chester match will be played on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Forest Hills High School.