Shippensburg got off to quick starts in each set and went on to a 25-12, 25-13, 25-17 PSAC sweep over the Pitt-Johnstown volleyball team in Tuesday night's home finale in the Sports Center.
Maura Brehl's nine kills led the Mountain Cats, now 16-12 overall and 10-6 in the PSAC Central Division.
Shippensburg surrendered the first two points, then recovered with a 17-5 run on its way to a 25-12 opening set win. After falling behind, Samantha Webber and Emily Hangen combined for a block put the Raiders in front 12-5, before Morgan DeFloria's kill and a Mountain Cat attack error increased it to double digits. Shippensburg maintained at least a 10-point lead the rest of the way and closed the set out with Webber's kill.
It was more of the same in the second set. The Raiders ran out to a 9-3 lead, but Pitt-Johnstown clawed back to with two at 10-8 on
Erin Carmody's service ace and
Tatiana Pitcher and
Caitlin Vrabel's combined block. Shippensburg quickly regained control and outscored the Mountain Cats 15-5 the rest of the way. Gabriella Johnson's kill increased the lead to 22-12 and Webber's kill gave the Raiders the 25-13 victory.
Courtney Malott's ace gave Shippensburg an 8-3 advantage to begin the third set. Pitt-Johnstown answered to tie it at 11on two Raiders' attack errors and again at 13 on Brehl's kill and another Shippensburg error. However, Shippensburg used a 12-4 run, capped by kills from Hangen and DeFloria to complete the sweep with the 25-17 win.
Along with Brehl, Pitt-Johnstown also got four kills and 11 digs from
Noelle Carota and four kills and a pair of blocks from Vrabel.
J.C. Longeville led the Mountain Cats with 17 set assists, while Carmody had a match-high 15 digs.
Shippensburg improved to 23-5 overall and 13-3 in the PSAC Central behind Webber's nine kills and five blocks and Johnson's seven kills.
Pitt-Johnstown will close out the regular season with PSAC road matches at Bloomsburg on Friday and Lock Haven on Saturday, before tipping-off the 2018 PSAC Tournament on November 6.
