Pitt-Johnstown raced out to a 2-sets-to-none lead, but needed a 15-13 victory in the fifth set to hold off Mercyhurst to kick of a stretch of four straight home PSAC matches, Thursday night in the Sports Center.
Noelle Carota had a match-high 13 kills and
Caitlin Vrabel added 12 kills to lead the Mountain Cats, who improved to 13-11 overall and 5-9 in the PSAC Southwest Division.
Pitt-Johnstown and Mercyhurst exchanged points early in the first set until the Mountain Cats broke an 8-8 tie with a 7-2 run to go in front 15-10 on Vrabel's kill and a Mercyhurst bad set. The Lakers scored the next two to get to within three, but Pitt-Johnstown outscored Mercyhurst 10-2 the rest of the way to take the opening set 25-15 on back-to-back attack errors.
Similar to the opening set, Pitt-Johnstown was able to break open a close set and pull away for a 25-16 win. The Mountain Cats scored four straight points to turn a one-point lead into a 16-11 advantage on a
Molly Ayres service ace and a Mercyhurst attack error. Pitt-Johnstown never let the Lakers closer the rest of the way and went on the nine-point victory on Carota's kill and two more Mercyhurst errors.
A Mercyhusrt service error gave Pitt-Johnstown 15-11 lead midway through the third set, but the Lakers stormed back to outscore the Mountain Cats 14-1 to pick-up the 25-16 win. Nine straight points on Hannah Vuylsteke serve put the Lakers in front 20-15, before Katie Baird's kill closed the set.
Mercyhurst kept the momentum and forced a fifth set with another 25-16 win. The Lakers doubled-up the Mountain Cats 12-6 on Baird's service ace, before Pitt-Johnstown cut it 16-13 on Vrabel's kill. However, Mercyhurst regained control and closed out the set on a 9-3 run, capped by kills from Madison Kasper and Alyssa Zirnheld.
In the final set, a block by
Anna Johns and Carota, and a kill by Carota gave Pit-Johnstown an 11-7 advantage. Mercyhurst scored the next four to knot it at 11 on Hailey Wilson's ace. Johns' block gave the lead right back to Pitt-Johnstown, and the Mountain Cats closed out the 15-13 win with Vrabel's kill and a Lakers' attack error.
Along with her 13 kills, Carota had four digs and two blocks, while Vrabel added seven digs and an ace to her 12 kills. Pitt-Johnstown also got seven kill each from
Tatiana Pitcher and
Lauren Gechter, and four kills and a match-high 10 blocks from Johns.
J.C. Longeville had a match-high 42 set assists and nine digs.
Erin Carmody tallied 20 digs, and
Gabi DeRenzo had 12 digs and an ace for the Mountain Cats.
Mercyhurst, which slipped to 14-12 overall and 6-9 in the PSAC Northwest, was led by Tess Ganich's 12 kills and Zirnheld's 10 kills.
Pitt-Johnstown continues its four-match home stand against Edinboro on Friday on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center, before hosting Gannon for Senior Day on Saturday at 1 p.m.
