Pitt-Johnstown hung around for spurts, but ultimately could not slow down the experienced attack of defending PSAC Champion Gannon in a 17-25, 20-25, 19-25 setback in the quarterfinals of the PSAC Tournament on Tuesday night at Highmark Events Center.

While the chance for a conference title was extinguished, the Mountain Cats' season is not over. Despite dropping to 19-11 overall, they'll have a chance to bounce back in the first round of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional that commences on Nov. 30.

Natalie Lippincott paced Pitt-Johnstown with a team-high nine kills. Mallory Pinske added seven kills and a team-high three blocks. Lualis Alvarado provided five kills and five digs.

Junior setter Adiamar Beaz, who finished the regular-season leading the conference in total service aces and was fourth in total assists, collected a match-high 24 assists and three aces. Gabi DeRenzo, who compiled a PSAC-leading 593 digs over 102 sets played during the regular-season, supplied a match-high 21 digs.

The best opportunity for the Mountain Cats, the West No. 4 seed, to prolong the match came in the second set when they tied it at 13-all on a service error. But the Golden Knights posted six of the next seven points to take a 19-14 lead.

Three straight points all on miscues brought Pitt-Johnstown to within 19-17, but a timeout allowed Gannon to reset and rip off a 6-3 run to end it and go up 2-0.

The Mountain Cats never led in the third set despite knotting it at 7-all early on via a kill from Brooke Pelloni. They took advantage of an attack error to cut the deficit to 12-10. The Golden Knights responded with a 5-2 flurry that extended their lead to 17-12.

A 4-0 run late with the help of two aces from Liredys Casiano trimmed it to 24-19, but it was too late as Gannon freshman Sydney Wake closed it out with a kill.

Senior outside hitter Madde Blake racked up a match-high 11 kills, and junior Hailey Koch added 10 kills to pace the Golden Knights (24-4). Gannon, the top seed out of the West, will travel to face East No. 2 seed East Stroudsburg in the semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m.

After finishing 10-20 in 2022, the Mountain Cats have made significant strides in 2023 under third-year coach Justin Haupt. They will seek win No. 20 in roughly two weeks when they make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017.