Lauren Gechter had 11 kills and five blocks, and Noelle Carota added 11 kills and 15 digs to help the Pitt-Johnstown volleyball team get its first PSAC victory with a 3-sets-to-1 win at Indiana (PA), Tuesday night.  The Mountain Cats evened their record at 8-8 overall and improved to 1-6 in the PSAC Central Division.
 
After dropping the first set 25-23, Pitt-Johnstown responded with 25-20, 25-23, and 26-24 wins.
 
After Kylie Osborn's kill helped IUP tie the opening set at 10, Pitt-Johnstown got kills from Caitlin Vrabel, Carota, and Anna Johns to climb out to a 13-10 lead.  IUP followed with a 10-4 run, capped by Celine Blon's service ace, to put the Crimson Hawks on top 20-17.  The Mountain Cats quickly knotted it at 20 on a Gabi DeRenzo ace, then again at 23 on Carota's kill, but IUP used a kill from Jessica Ignace and an ace from Liv Burns to earn a 25-23 win.
 
Pitt-Johnstown evened the match with a 25-20 win in the second set.  The Mountain Cats fell behind by three early, but battled back to regain the lead 15-14 on Vrabel's kill.  Pitt-Johnstown never trailed again and got a block from Johns and Gechter to increase the lead to 23-18, before Jaden Gray's kill closed out the set.
 
Ignace's kill gave IUP a 15-12 advantage midway through the third set, but Pitt-Johnstown scored eight of the next nine points to go up 20-16 on a combined block by Johns and J.C. Longeville.  The Crimson Hawks got back in it and narrowed to 24-23 with Nicole Peterson and Osborn's block, but the Mountain Cats took advantage of another kill from Vrabel to secure a 25-23 win.
 
Pitt-Johnstown held the momentum early in the third set and got a block from Gechter to build a 13-9 lead.  The Crimson Hawks tied it at 15 on Ignace's kills and regained the lead 23-18 on a Mountain Cat service error.  Pitt-Johnstown stormed back with five straight points to tie it at 23 on Gechter's kill, before completing the comeback and closing out the match with a 26-24 victory.
 
Along with Gechter and Carota, the Mountain Cats also got nine kills and a pair of blocks from Vrabel, eight kills and four blocks from Johns, and five kills and eight digs from Gray.
 
Longeville finished with 39 set assists and 11 digs, while Erin Carmody had a match-high 21 digs, and Tatiana Pitcher and DeRenzo each collected 10 digs for the Mountain Cats.
 
IUP, which dropped to 3-13 overall and 2-5 in the PSAC Central, was led by Peterson's match-high 16 kills, Ignace's 13 kills, and Lizzie Virgin's 12 kills.
 
Pitt-Johnstown travels to PSAC matches at Bloomsburg on Friday and Lock Haven on Saturday, and a non-conference match at Point Park on Tuesday, before returning home to host conference matches against California (PA) on October 25 and Seton Hill on October 26.