Pitt-Johnstown took advantage of 15 kills and seven digs from Lualis Alvarado to bounce back from an opening round loss in the Wheeling-West Liberty Tournament with a four-set victory over Fairmont State (WV), in Friday's second round in Wheeling, W.Va.  The Mountain Cats improved to 7-2.
 
The Mountain Cats to the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-23, before Fairmont State forced a fourth set with a 26-24 win.  However, Pitt-Johnstown wrapped it up with a 25-18 victory.
 
After falling behind by four to start the match, Pitt-Johnstown countered with a 14-5 run to build a five-point lead of its own.  Mallory Pinske's service ace put the Mountain Cats on top and an ace from Adiamar Beaz and a Fairmont State attack error made it 16-11.  Five straight points from the Falcons tied it, but Pitt-Johnstown finished strong and got three consecutive kills from Pinske to take the set 25-19.
 
The Mountain Cats erased a one-point second set deficit with an 8-2 spurt, capped by another Beaz ace and a Fairmont State attack error, to build a 16-11 advantage.  Pitt-Johnstown never surrendered the lead and held off the Falcons, 25-23, on an Alvarado kill.
 
In the third set, Alvarado and Pinske combined for four straight kills to help Pitt-Johnstown jump out to a 12-6 lead.  Fairmont State clawed all the way back to tie it at 24 and force extra points on Joey Burrelle's kill, and took the set, 26-24, with Borrelle's ace.
 
A 6-1 run, capped by Journey Welling's kill, put the Mountain Cats in front 17-11 in the fourth set.  Pitt-Johnstown never let the Falcons get closer the three the rest of the way and used another kill from Alvarado to close out the four-set victory with a 25-18 win.
 
Along with Alvarado's efforts, Pitt-Johnstown got 11 kills and three block assists from Pinske, 11 kills from Natalie Lippincott, and eight kills from Brooke Pelloni.
 
Beaz filled the stat sheet with six kills, match-highs of 47 set assists and five aces, and a dozen digs, while Gabi DeRenzo finished with a match-high 39 digs for the Mountain Cats.
 
Fairmont State, which slipped to 6-5, was paced by Ellie Zuro's match-high 16 kills and Burrelle's 13 kills, three block assists, and 17 digs.
 
The Mountain Cats close out the Wheeling-West Liberty Tournament with games against Notre Dame (OH) and West Liberty on Saturday, before hosting Seton Hill on Friday at 6 p.m. in the Sports Center for the 2023 home and PSAC West opener.