Grace Miller had 12 kills, and Cassie Pascarella and Lualis Alvarado each finished with 10 kills, but Shippensburg held off Pitt-Johnstown for a four set non-conference volleyball victory, Tuesday night in Shippensburg.  The Mountain Cats are now 10-5.
 
Shippensburg and Pitt-Johnstown split the first two sets with the Raiders taking set one, 25-16 and the Mountain Cats taking set two, 26-24.  However, Shippensburg closed out the four-set victory with 26-24 and 25-23 wins.
 
Following seven ties and six lead changes to begin the opening set, Shippensburg began to take control.  A service ace from Lilly Letchworth closed a 7-1 Raiders' run that put Shippensburg in front 16-10.  Rachel Verhoef's kills increased it to 21-12, and the Raiders took the set, 25-16, on an Emily Gardner gill.
 
In the second set, Shippensburg jumped out to a four-point lead, but a kill from Alvarado and two kills from Lauren Gechter helped Pitt-Johnstown tie it at 11.  The Mountain Cats regained the lead by one on two more Gechter kills and a Raiders' attack error.  It remained close the rest of the way.  Another kill from Gechter tied it at 24 to force extra points, before Gechter's block and Alvarado's kill gave the Mountain Cats a 26-24 win.
 
Three straight kills by Negron gave Shippensburg an 11-5 lead in the third set.  Pitt-Johnstown battled back to knot it at 23 on kills from Pascarella and Miller.  It went to extra points again, but this time, the Raiders held on for the 26-24 victory on Gardner and Negron Kills.
 
Katelyn Courtney's kills and a pair of Shippensburg attack errors helped the Mountain Cats run out to an 8-4 fourth set advantage.  The Raiders came back to tie it at 13 before taking their first lead of the set at 14-13 on a consecutive Pitt-Johnstown errors.  Neither team was able to pull away, and Adiamar Beaz's kill gave the back to Pitt-Johnstown, 22-21, but Shippensburg was able to regain the lead and hold on for a 25-23 win on Alex Leitner's service ace.
 
Miller's 12 kills and 12 digs led the way for the Mountain Cats, while Alvarado had 10 kills, 14 digs, and two blocks, and Pascarella had 10 kills.  Gechter finished with eight kills and a match-high seven blocks, including three solo blocks.
 
Beaz had a match-high 36 set assists and eight digs, and Erin Carmody and Karin Ilagan had 16 and six dig, respectively for Pitt-Johnstown.
 
Gardner's 15 kills and 10 digs and Negron's 15 kills and eight digs paced Shippensburg, which improved to 8-11 on the season.
 
Pitt-Johnstown returns home to host PSAC West matches in the Sports Center against Indiana (PA) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Clarion on Saturday at 1 p.m.