Natalie Lippincott collected 10 kills and five block assists, and Lualis Alvarado added 10 kills and five digs, but perennial nation power Wheeling (WV) was able to down the Mountain Cats in straight sets to begin the Wheeling-West Liberty Tournament, Friday afternoon in Wheeling, W.Va.  Pitt-Johnstown slipped to 6-2.
 
After Adiamar Beaz's service ace got the Mountain Cats to within two midway through the opening set, Wheeling got hot and ran off seven consecutive points, including three of Tylah Yeomans' nine first-set kills, to build an 18-9 advantage.  Pitt-Johnstown narrowed it to 24-19 on back-to-back kills from Alvarado, but the Cardinals closed out the 25-19 win on a Mountain Cat attack error.
 
In a tight start to the second set, neither team held a lead larger than two until Wheeling used a quick, 5-1, run to take a 14-10 advantage on a Karly Niesen/Katie Wilking block.  Kills from Alvarado and Mallory Pinske got Pitt-Johnstown back to with two at 17-15, but the Cardinals were able to build a two-sets-to none lead with the 25-10 victory.
 
Pitt-Johnstown got off to a fast start in the third set and used a kill from Brooke Pelloni and two from Lippincott to run out to an 11-6 lead.  Wheeling battled back and outscored the Mountain Cats 9-4 to knot it at 15 on Wilking's kill, but Pitt-Johnstown came back with four straight points to regain the lead.  However, the Cardinals countered with a, 10-4, run down the stretch to wrap-up the match with a 25-23 win on Riley Kindall's kill.
 
Along with Lippincott and Alvarado, Pitt-Johnstown also got seven kills from Pelloni, five kills and four block assists from Journey Welling, and five kills from Pinske.
 
Beaz finished with 33 set assists and six digs to go along with her three kills, and Gabi DeRenzo tallied 25 digs for the Mountain Cats.
 
Yeamans led the way for the Cardinals with a match-high 18 kills and Mady Winters had seven kills and three block assists.
 
Wheeling is now 3-4 on the year.