Caitlin Vrabel, Tatiana Pitcher, and Lauren Gechter all had 12 kills, but Saginaw Valley State (MI) University came back from a first set loss with three straight wins to upend the Pitt-Johnstown volleyball team in four sets, Saturday afternoon in the third round of the Clarion University Tony Memorial Tournament.  The Mountain Cats are now 1-2.
 
Pitt-Johnstown won the first set, 25-21, but the Cardinals followed with 25-17, 25-18, and 25-23 victories.
 
Pitt-Johnstown got off to a quick start with five straight points in the opening set, before extending it to 14-6 on a Jaden Gray kill and three consecutive Saginaw Valley State errors.  The Cardinals got back in it with a 12-6 run, capped by Olivia Dean's service, to pull to within two at 20-18, but the Mountain Cats were able to close it out.  Anna Johns followed with a kill to get the lead back out to three, and Gechter's kill gave the Mountain Cats the 25-21 victory.
 
It stayed close the first half of the second set, but after Pitcher's kill tied it at 12, Saginaw Valley State went on to outscore Pitt-Johnstown, 13-5, the rest of the way to even the match at one set apiece with a 25-17 win on Kaitlyn Clum's service ace.
 
Similar to the second set, the third set was also close in the early going.  Vrabel and Gray combined for a block to knot it at 10, but the Cardinals scored six of the next seven points to build a 16-11 advantage on Emily Friesl's kill.  Pitt-Johnstown answered with a kill from Gechter and an ace from Gray to cut it to three, but Saginaw Valley State was able to pull away down the stretch.  Hayley Clum and Hannah Tabit's combined block got the lead back out to five at 20-15, and a Maria Vukaj kill closed out the Cardinals' 25-18 win.
 
Neither team held a lead larger than two in the fourth set until Sarah Tabit's block put Saginaw Valley State on top, 14-11.  Pitt-Johnstown clawed back to tie it on five occasions, with the last coming at 23 on a bad set, but the Cardinals used a Mountain Cat service error and Friesl's kill to seal the match with a 25-23 victory.
 
Vrabel finished with 12 kills and four blocks, while Pitcher had 12 kills, 12 digs, and two blocks, and Gechter tallied 12 kills and a pair of blocks to lead Pitt-Johnstown.  The Mountain Cats also got eight kills, nine digs, and two blocks from Gray, and four kills and five blocks from Johns.
 
J.C. Longville's collected a team-high 43 set assists, and Erin Carmody and Gabi DeRenzo had 31 and 17 digs, respectively for Pitt-Johnstown.
 
Saginaw Valley State, which improved to 3-0, was led by Sarah Tabit's match-high 17 kills and Friesl's 15 kills.