Pitt-Johnstown pushed Seton Hill to five sets , 3-2 (14-25, 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 10-15), in a PSAC West match, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center. Ellie Zuro Cirino led the Mountain Cats with 20 kills and Caroline Knight added 18, as Pitt-Johnstown moved to 11-10 overall and 5-7 in conference play.
Zuro Cirino was the Mountain Cats' offensive leader, hitting .326 with only five errors on 46 attempts to go with 11 digs. Knight finished with 18 kills, 11 digs and two block assists.
Arielis Valle Villegas directed the offense with 25 assists, three service aces and four digs, while Abigail Berry chipped in 21 assists, five digs and a solo block. Avery Koontz anchored the back row with a team-high 17 digs. At the net, Kiara Harmon added seven kills and six block assists, Alanna Rivera had six kills and four block assists, and Kamila Rodriguez Velez also posted six kills. Dannika Susko came up with two solo blocks and a block assist, and Anna Ritter served two aces.
As a team, Pitt-Johnstown held slim edges over Seton Hill in kills (58-57), assists (53-52) and blocks (10-9). Seton Hill had the advantage in digs (67-54) and service aces (8-5).
Seton Hill took the opener, 25-14, after a Kendyl Wagner ace gave the visitors the first point. The Mountain Cats tied it at 1-1 on a Zuro Cirino kill and again at 3-3 on a Rivera kill, then trailed 11-5 before a 5-0 run, with kills from Harmon and Zuro Cirino, pulled them within 11-10. Catie Flohr and Maddie Stout then led Seton Hill down the stretch, with Mallory Meinen setting the offense.
Pitt-Johnstown evened the match with a 25-22 win in the second set. Seton Hill led 14-11, but the Mountain Cats answered with a 6-0 run, highlighted by a Susko block and a Knight kill, with Berry serving five straight points, to take a 17-14 lead. Seton Hill tied it at 18-18, but a Valle Villegas ace and kills from Zuro Cirino put Pitt-Johnstown back in front. Ritter's ace set up set point at 24-20, and after a Stout kill and a Knight error cut the margin to 24-22, Knight finished it with a kill off a Valle Villegas set.
The Mountain Cats went up 2-1 with their best set of the day, hitting .342 with 20 kills and seven errors on 38 attempts. A 3-0 run broke a 9-9 tie, and Pitt-Johnstown stretched the lead to 17-11 with Valle Villegas serving. Courtney Smith's kill and back-to-back aces pulled Seton Hill within 18-17, but the Mountain Cats closed on a 5-1 run, with three Knight kills and three straight Berry serves. Zuro Cirino ended it with a kill off a Berry set for the 25-21 win.
Seton Hill forced a fifth set with a 25-20 win in the fourth. Pitt-Johnstown opened a 4-1 lead on a Harmon kill, a Harmon-Knight block and a Knight kill, tied the set at 10-10 on a Valle Villegas ace and again at 12-12 on a Ritter ace, and led 13-12 on a Rivera kill. Seton Hill answered with a 5-0 run, with Wagner serving four straight points, to lead 17-13. Zuro Cirino kills and a Harmon-Rivera block helped the Mountain Cats close within 24-20 before Seton Hill finished it.
Seton Hill opened the fifth set with three straight points on kills from Wagner and Savannah Schwarz, but Zuro Cirino, who had all four Pitt-Johnstown kills in the set, and blocks by Harmon, Rivera and Susko kept the Mountain Cats close at 6-4. Zuro Cirino kills pulled them within 9-7 and 10-8 before Seton Hill, led by Flohr and Smith, closed out the 15-10 win.
Flohr led Seton Hill with 22 kills, five blocks and 10 digs, while Stout added 11 kills and 12 digs. Smith contributed eight kills and four service aces, and Wagner added 13 digs and two aces. Meinen dished out 38 assists and had 17 digs. Seton Hill is now 13-9 overall and 6-6 in PSAC West play.
Pitt-Johnstown will close out the 2026 regular season by hosting Gannon on Friday at 6 p.m. and Edinboro for Senior Day next Saturday at noon in the Sports Center.
