Pitt-Johnstown took the first set, but Mercyhurst secured the next three to close out a 16-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19 victory over the Mountain Cats on Saturday afternoon in Erie.

The Mountain Cats dropped to 7-13 overall (1-7 in PSAC West play).

Reagan Morris and Mallory Pinske, who added three blocks, both had a team-high nine kills apiece to pace Pitt-Johnstown. Lualis Alvarado collected eight kills, while Natalie Lippincott added six. Adiamar Beaz dished out a match-high 36 assists and provided seven digs and three aces.

Pitt-Johnstown never trailed in the opening set after being up by as many as nine.

The Mountain Cats capitalized on three attack errors and two kills from Pinske to jump out to a 6-0 lead to begin the second set. But the Lakers rebounded from there to grab a 17-16 lead during what was a match-changing 8-0 run to go up 22-16 and tie the match.

Kylie Schnars had a match-high 18 kills for Mercyhurst, which improved to 3-14 overall and 1-7 in the PSAC West. Corinne Bechtold tallied seven kills. Alexa Mitchell had 32 assists. Zoe Gadomski provided a team-high 15 digs, while Alexa Mitchell and Kate Hennessy had 11 each. 

Alvarado supplied 16 digs, while Lexi Pendergraft and Gabi DeRenzo each collected 15 digs for the Mountain Cats.

Pitt-Johnstown travels to California (Pa.) on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. match.