Pitt-Johnstown opened with a 25-20 first set win, but East Stroudsburg answered with 25-20, 25-17 and 25-21 victories to deal the Mountain Cat volleyball team a 3-sets-to-1 PSAC loss, Friday night in the Sports Center. Pitt-Johnstown, which got a match-high 19 kills from
Noelle Carota, fell to
In a back-and-forth first set, neither team was able to build a lead larger that two until Pitt-Johnstown scored five straight points to take a 17-14 lead on a
J.C. Longeville service ace and an East Stroudsburg attack error. The Warriors battled back to knot it at 20 on a Mountain Cat error, but Pitt-Johnstown scored the final five points, including an ace from
Jaden Gray and a Carota kill, to win the set, 25-20.
In the second set, Sam Dunphy's kill gave East Stroudsburg an 8-4 lead, before Pitt-Johnstown narrowed it to 11-10 on two straight errors by the Warriors. East Stroudsburg followed with a 11-2 run to increase the lead to 22-13 on a Sarah Smith ace. Carota's kill got the Mountain Cats as close as 22-19, but the Warriors scored three of the next four points to earn a 25-20 win and even the match at one set apiece on Caylinn Davis's kill.
Another kill by Dunphy helped East Stroudsburg run out to a 10-4 third set advantage, but the Mountain Cats clawed back to within three at 11-8 Gray's kill. However, the Warriors regained control and pushed the lead out to
20-12 and went on to a 25-17 victory a Pitt-Johnstown service error and a Jessica Irwin ace.
Pitt-Johnstown started fast in the final set and built a 9-5, before East Stroudsburg countered with an 8-3 run, capped by Smith's kill, to go up 13-12. The Mountain Cats kept it close, but could never tie it or regain the lead. Then, with the score 21-20, the Warriors went on to outscore Pitt-Johnstown 4-1, to close out the match with the 25-21 on Dunphy's Trea-sure Ketter's combined block.
Carota finished with a match-high 19 kills and five digs, and Gray added 10 kills and six digs to pace Pitt-Johnstown. The Mountain Cats also got seven kills and three blocks from
Caitlin Vrabel and three kills and five blocks from
Anna Johns.
Longeville had a team-high 36 assists 11 digs, while
Erin Carmody collected a match-high 31 digs. Gabi Dirienzo also had two aces and eight digs for the Mountain Cats.
Smith tallied 18 kills, 16 digs, and four blocks, and Dunphy had 14 kills, 14 digs, and a pair of blocks to help East Stroudsburg improve to 14-4 overall and 5-1 in the PSAC Central Division.
Pitt-Johnstown hosts a PSAC match against Kutztown on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Sports Center, before traveling to conference matches at Indiana (PA) on Tuesday and Bloomsburg and Lock Haven next weekend.
