Abi Leitner's career-high 19 kills were not enough as California (PA) outlasted Pitt-Johnstown in a 3-2 (25-17, 18-25, 19-25, 25-20, 17-15) PSAC West victory Tuesday night at California's Convocation Center.
Lualis Alvarado had 13 kills and Natalie Lippincott tied her season-high with 10 kills for the Mountain Cats, who dropped to 7-15 and 1-8 in the PSAC West.
After a kill by Leitner gave Pitt-Johnstown a 14-11 lead in the decisive fifth set, California's Ashley Barnes responded with a kill to make it 14-12 and force the Mountain Cats to take a timeout.
Out of the break, the Vulcans capitalized on two attack errors and a kill by Elisa Rugiero, who supplied 13 kills and three blocks, to grab a 15-14 advantage. Leitner answered with a kill to tie it at 15-all, but a kill from Kaylin Burkey, who had a team-high 17 kills, and one from Allie Droneberger sealed the match.
Adiamar Beaz dished out a season-high and match-high 46 assists and seven aces. Gabi DeRenzo tallied a season-high and match-high 33 digs, while Beaz added 21. Alvarado had 17 digs and three blocks. Lexi Pendergraft totaled nine digs and three aces.
Reagan Morris, who had seven kills and four blocks, opened the first set with back-to-back kills to put Pitt-Johnstown up 2-0. California was quick to respond, tying the set at 8-all and then taking a 9-8 lead that it would never relinquish on a kill from Rugiero.
An attack error by the Vulcans provided the Mountain Cats with a 6-5 lead in the second set. Back-to-back aces from Gabi DeRenzo and an attack error pushed their lead to 9-5 and they would never trail from that point on.
Two consecutive aces from Beaz helped Pitt-Johnstown open up a 4-0 lead to begin the third set. But California ripped off a 10-2 run to take a 10-6 lead and coax the Mountain Cats into a timeout. Later, after falling into a 15-11 deficit, back-to-back kills by Alvarado and Leitner sparked a set-changing 9-0 run to put the Mountain Cats in front 20-15 before eventually closing it with the help of two errors by the Vulcans.
The fourth set was tied at 11-all, but a 5-0 run assisted by two kills from Rugiero put California ahead 16-11. Despite Pitt-Johnstown rallying within a point at 21-20 on a Leitner kill, the Vulcans scored the final four points to force a fifth set.
Ashley Barnes had 34 assists for California, which moved to 10-8 overall (4-5 in conference). Droneberger added 10 kills. Alayja Floyd racked up nine blocks and five kills. Emily Buwawa and Kelly Lynch provided 16 digs apiece.
Pitt-Johnstown hosts Gannon on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Sports Center.
