Marissa Erminio had 11 kills, and Kendall Mahony added 10 kills and six blocks to help the Pitt-Johnstown volleyball team to a 3-sets-to-1 PSAC victory at Mercyhurst University on Saturday.  The Mountain Cats improved to 13-4 overall and 3-1 in the PSAC Central Division.
 
After Pitt-Johnstown won the first set 25-17, Mercyhurst evened the match with a 29-27 victory in the second set.  However, the Mountain Cats bounced back with 25-19 and 25-22 wins to close it out.
 
Pitt-Johnstown took advantage of a pair of Erminio kills and eight Mercyhurst errors to jump out to a 12-3 lead in the opening set.  The Lakers cut it to 13-8 on Makayla Molle's service ace, but the Mountain Cats scored the next four, including a kill from Maura Brehl and an ace from Devan Orr, to rebuild the lead to nine.  Pitt-Johnstown never let Mercyhurst get closer than six the rest of the way and finished out the 25-17 win with another kill from Brehl.
 
Mercyhurst turned it around in the second set and was able to even the match with a 29-27 victory.  The Lakers turned a two-point lead into a 17-12 advantage on a Katie Baird kill, but Pitt-Johnstown battled back to narrow the gap to one of four occasions, before Cambria Wierman's kill followed by a Mercyhurst attack error knotted the score at 24.  However, a kill from Alyssa Zirnheld and a Mountain Cat attack error eventually gave the Lakers to two-point win.
 
Just like the first set, Pitt-Johnstown stormed out to a 13-3 lead on Noelle Carota's kill to begin the third set.  The Lakers recovered and used a 16-9 run to get the deficit down to 23-19 on Frieda Ireigbe kill and Hannah Vuylsteke's ace, but the Mountain Cats got two straight Mercyhust errors and a Coco Kordenbrock ace to claim the 25-17 win.
 
Needing a victory in the fourth set to keep the match going, the Lakers got consecutive kills from Tess Ganish, Leah Kern, and Baird to open-up a 6-2 lead.  Pitt-Johnstown answered with an Erminio ace and a Wierman kill to quickly tie it, before Brehl's kill put the Mountain Cats in front, 9-8.  Pitt-Johnstown never trailed again.  The Mountain Cats built the lead to four, before Mercyhurst came back to tie it at 21, but Pitt-Johnstown was able to hold on for the 25-22 win and four-set victory with another Erminio kill and a Mercyhurst attack error.
 
Erminio collected 11 kills, two blocks, and 17 digs, while Mahony had 10 kills and six blocks to lead Pitt-Johnstown.
 
The Mountain Cats also got eight kills, a pair of blocks, and six digs from Wierman, and seven kills and six blocks from Caitlin Vrabel.  Brehl and Carota each finished with seven kills and four blocks.
 
J.C Longeville paced Pitt-Johnstown with 22 set assists and 11 digs, and Allison Mondorff chipped-in 20 assists and five digs.  Orr had a match-high 24 digs.
 
The Lakers, who dropped to 6-9 overall and 1-3 in the PSAC Northwest Division, were led by Zirnheld's 11 kills and 10 digs, and Ganish's 11 kills.
 
Pitt-Johnstown returns 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.