
Pitt-Johnstown got nine kills, two blocks and a10 digs from
Lualis Alvarado, but PSAC West leading Clarion secured a 25-17, 25-18, 25-22 conference victory over the Mountain Cats, Friday evening in Clarion. Pitt-Johnstown slipped to 7-11 overall and 1-5 in conference-play.
Four kills in the first half of the opening set from Alvarado, followed by an
Isabella Gomez service ace put Pitt-Johnstown on top, 13-12. Clarion got hot and closed out the first set on a 13-4 run. Five straight points gave the Golden Eagles a 17-13 advantage, and three more of Julia Piccolino's eight first set kills gave Clarion the 25-17 win.
In the second set, kills from
Patricia Gonzalez and
Abi Leitner gave the Mountain Cats a quick lead, but the Golden Eagles scored the next seven, including three aces from Piccoliono, to take a 7-2 lead of their own. Pitt-Johnstown clawed back to within two at 9-7, on a combined block from
Myiah Porter and Leitner. However, Clarion was able to push the lead out to seven at 15-8 on three straight Alyson Peters' kills and maintained at lead a five-point advantage the rest of the way to go up 2-sets-to-none with the 25-18 victory.


The Golden Eagles held to momentum in the final set and went in front 11-5 on Lauren Aichinger and London Fuller's block. Pitt-Johnstown didn't go away and used a
Gabi DeRenzo ace and a Clarion service error to make it 23-22, but the Golden Eagles scored the final two points to warp-up the match.
Along with Alvarado, Pitt-Johnstown got five kills, five digs, and two blocks from Malloruy Pinske, five kills and a pair of blocks from Leitner, and five kills from
Natalie Lippincott.
Adiamar Beaz collected a team-high 15 set assists and seven digs, while DeRenzo had six digs for the Mountain Cats.
Clarion, which made it five straight wins and improved to 15-1 overall and 5-0 in the PSAC West, was led by Piccolino's match-high 15 kills and four aces. Hailey Barden had 13 kills and 12 digs, and Aichinger tallied eight kills and three blocks for the Golden Eagles.
Pitt-Johnstown returns home to host a non-conference match against Shippensburg on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center, before playing three consecutive PSAC West road matches beginning at Edinboro on Oct. 7.