Despite Pitt-Johnstown forcing a fifth set, Seton Hill narrowly tamed the Mountain Cats in a five-set victory (23-25, 25-14, 25-16, 24-26, 15-13) on Saturday afternoon in the Katherine Mabis McKenna Center at Seton Hill.

The Mountain Cats slipped to 8-18 overall (1-11 PSAC West).

Lualis Alvarado collected a match-high 21 kills and added 15 digs and three aces. Mallory Pinske provided 13 kills and three blocks.

Pitt-Johnstown led by as many as six on five different occasions and went up 19-13 before the Griffins stormed back with a 9-1 run to take a 22-20 lead in the first set. Out of a timeout, Reagan Morris notched a kill to spark a 5-1 rally that ended with a Natalie Lippincott kill to give the Mountain Cats a 1-0 lead.

Seton Hill held a wire-to-wire lead in the second set to tie the match at 1-all. After being up by just one, 8-7, early in the third set, the Griffins erupted with a 9-0 run to grab a 17-8 lead and roll to a 2-1 advantage.

The fourth set was knotted seven different times. The Mountain Cats had a 24-21 lead, but back-to-back kills from Seton Hill's Payton Rodberg and a service ace by Brianna Pasternak tied the set at 24-all. But out of a timeout, a kill and a service ace from Alvarado sent the match to a winner-take-all fifth set.

Rodberg tallied 12 kills, and Bobbi Rempe provided 10. Abby Oesterling racked up 41 assists.

In the final set, the Mountain Cats capitalized on an attack error to take a 13-10 lead. But a game-winning 5-0 rally that ended with back-to-back kills by Seton Hill's Paige Cole, who racked up a team-high 15 kills, helped the Griffins seal the win to improve to 15-9 overall (5-7 PSAC West).

Adiamar Beaz dished out a match-high 42 assists and chipped in 13 digs. Gabi DeRenzo tied a team-high with 15 digs, while Karin Ilagan had 10. Lippincott and Morris combined for 11 kills.

The Mountain Cats host PSAC West-leading Clarion on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Sports Center.