After Thursday's three-set sweep over fifth-seeded Shepherd (WV) in the quarterfinals
, Head Coach Justin Haupt's Pitt-Johnstown volleyball team advanced the Friday's NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Tournament Semifinals and will take on top-seeded Gannon for the right to play for a regional title. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Highmark Events Center in Erie.
The Mountain Cats, now 18-11 on the season, are making their seventh overall and third consecutive NCAA Division II Regional Tournament appearance. Friday's match will also mark Pitt-Johnstown's second appearance in the regional semifinals, and the first since 2016.
Ellie Zuro Cirino's match-high 17 kills and
Caroline Knight's 11 kills guided the Mountain Cats to a 25-18, 25-23, 25-21 win over Shepherd in Thursday's quarterfinals.
The winner of the Pitt-Johnstown-Gannon match will take on the winner of the No. 2 East Stroudsburg-No. 3 Indiana (PA) match in the Atlantic Region Championship match on Saturday at 4 p.m.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets can be purchased online in advance of the competition
(Purchase Tickets)
Tickets will also be available at the ticket window. Both cash and cards will be accepted.
Adults: $12.00
Students with ID / Senior Citizens: $6.00
Children (ages 2–12): $6.00
Children under 2: Free when accompanied by a paying adult
ATLANTIC REGIONAL SCHEDULE
All matches at Highmark Events Center
Friday, December 5, 2025 – Semifinals
4:00 p.m. – Winner of Q1 vs. Winner of Q2
7:00 p.m. – Winner of Q3 vs. Winner of Q4
Saturday, December 6, 2025 – Championship
4:00 p.m. – Winner of S1 vs. Winner of S2
Eight eight-team regionals are being played at on-campus sites. Regional competition will be single-elimination, best three-of-five-set matches and will not include a third-place match. The winners of each of the eight regionals will advance to the NCAA finals, Dec. 11-13, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Fall, S.D. Competition at the finals site will be single-elimination, best three-of-five-set matches.
Pitt-Johnstown and Gannon met previous times this season and the Golden Knights earned wins in all three. After a pair of regular season victories, Gannon held off the Mountain Cats in four sets in the PSAC Semifinals on Nov. 21. Zuro Cirino had a match-high 21 kills, while Knight and
Natalie Lippincott finished with nine kills apiece for Pitt-Johnstown. Sydney Wake (19 kills), Lauren Atwell (15 kills), and Abbey Williams (13 kills) all had double-digit kills for the Golden Knights.
Pitt-Johnstown is led by First-Team All-PSAC West and First-Team D2CCA and AVCA All-Atlantic Region outside hitter Cirino (438 kills, 4.13 kills/set, 4.62 points/set) and second-team all-conference choices Knight (OH) (342 kills, 3.23 kills/set, 3.86 points/set) and
Jessica Krug (DS) (505 digs, 5.32 digs/set).
Gannon, under 19
th-year Head Coach Matt Darling, is 25-7 following a 25-16, 25-17, 25-23 sweep over eighth-seeded Fayetteville State (NC) in its quarterfinals match on Thursday. Wake finished with 15 kills and added 11 kills for the Golden Knights.
The Golden Knights are led by Wake (2.92 kills/set, 3.35 points/set), Nehir Yazicioglu (2.69 kills/set, 3.24 points/set), Williams (2.53 kills/set, 3.14 points/set), and Atwell (2.32 kills/set, 2.97 points per set, 97 blocks, .92 blocks/set).
