ERIE, Pa. — No. 4 seed Pitt-Johnstown took the first set, but couldn't sustain that momentum in a 3-1 loss (25-20, 15-25, 17-25, 21-25) to No. 1 Gannon in the Atlantic Region semifinals on Friday night at Highmark Events Center.
The Mountain Cats concluded a memorable year with an 18-12 overall record. For just the second time in program history, PItt-Johnstown secured a berth in the regional semifinals after reaching the same stage in 2016.
Ellie Zuro Cirino wrapped up an historic 2025 campaign with 13 kills, nine digs and four blocks. The junior outside hitter racked up 451 kills, good enough for third most in a season in program history.
Senior outside hitter Natalie Lippincott led the way with a season-high 14 kills, which included at least three in each set.
Caroline Knight contributed a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs and capped her junior season with 354 kills, second only behind Zuro Cirino for the team lead. Abby Berry dished out 46 assists, while senior Jessica Krug notched 12 digs.
Pitt-Johnstown delivered on the defensive end in the opening set, jumping out to a 7-2 advantage with the help of Mallory Pinske, who was part of three blocks during the run. Zuro Cirino later capped a 6-1 run with a kill that gave the Mountain Cats their largest lead of the set at 17-7.
That lead was eventually trimmed to 21-19 before a 4-1 spurt that included a kill from Lippincott and an ace from Avery Koontz sealed the set and a 1-0 advantage.
The Mountain Cats never led in the second set after getting down 6-1 to start. They, however, scratched back to within 6-5 but never got that close to tying it again.
A brief 2-1 lead to open the third set evaporated when Gannon rattled off six straight points to take the lead for good.
Pitt-Johnstown displayed plenty of resilience in the fourth frame, going swing for swing with Gannon in the early going. At one point, two kills from Zuro Cirino helped the Mountain Cats climb to a 15-all tie. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to overcome Gannon's potent offense that was led by Abbey Williams and her 17 kills.
Gannon will face No. 3 seed IUP, which knocked off PSAC Champion East Stroudsburg 3-1 to advance, in the Atlantic Region Championship at 4 p.m. Saturday.
