The Pitt-Johnstown volleyball team clinched a spot in the PSAC Tournament with a thrilling 3-2 win over Gannon (25-20, 14-25, 25-15, 17-25, 15-13) Friday night at the Sports Center. Caroline Knight and Ellie Zuro Cirino each recorded 16 kills as the Mountain Cats improved to 12-10 overall and 6-7 in PSAC West play.
Pitt-Johnstown closes out the regular season with Senior Day on Saturday at noon against Edinboro at the Sports Center, before opening the PSAC Tournament with a first round on Monday against an opponent and at a site to be determined.
Knight did a little of everything, adding three service aces and 12 digs to her 16 kills. Zuro Cirino hit .268 for the match and also chipped in nine digs, an ace and a block assist.
Abigail Berry distributed 18 assists and Arielis Valle Villegas added 17 assists, two kills and six digs. Avery Koontz anchored the back row with a match-high 20 digs, while Dannika Susko led the front line with four blocks, three of them solo, to go with four kills. Kiara Harmon contributed five kills and three blocks, and Kamila Rodriguez Velez added three kills, all of them in the opening set.
The Mountain Cats avenged an Oct. 9 four-set loss at Gannon by outhitting the Golden Knights .174 to .169. Pitt-Johnstown finished with 48 kills, 44 assists, 62 digs, seven service aces and seven blocks, and committed just 21 attack errors to Gannon's 25. The Mountain Cats were at their best in the third set, when they hit .524 with 13 kills and only two errors.
Pitt-Johnstown took the opener, 25-20, behind a balanced attack. After trading points early, the Mountain Cats built an 8-4 lead on kills from Zuro Cirino, but Gannon answered with a 4-0 run, sparked by Carlee Webber and Nehir Yazicioglu, to lead 14-11. The Golden Knights still held a 17-15 edge when Pitt-Johnstown stormed back with six straight points. Rodriguez Velez delivered back-to-back kills to tie it at 17, and Knight then went to the service line and produced an ace, followed by kills from Susko and Zuro Cirino, to make it 21-17. Zuro Cirino's kill made it 23-20, and Gannon errors from Webber and Abbey Williams closed out the set.
Gannon controlled the second set, 25-14. Brooke Gwiazda and Yazicioglu powered a 5-0 run that put the Golden Knights up 9-3, and Gabby Beaubrun and Alexis Fowler added aces as the lead grew to 15-7. Valle Villegas helped Pitt-Johnstown trim it to 9-6 with a three-point spurt, and Harmon and Knight added kills in a late 3-0 run, but Gwiazda put down the final kill to even the match.
The Mountain Cats responded in a big way in the third set, taking a 25-15 victory. After a 3-3 tie, Pitt-Johnstown never trailed again. Susko blocked Sydney Wake and Knight and Harmon teamed up on a block of Williams to help build the early edge, and Gannon's two Beaubrun aces could only cut the deficit to 8-7. The Mountain Cats then outscored the Golden Knights 8-2 to open a 17-10 lead, with Zuro Cirino and Harmon providing kills. Pitt-Johnstown closed with a 5-0 run, highlighted by two Knight aces against Addi Claxon, to reach 24-13, and Zuro Cirino ended it with a kill.
Gannon forced a decisive fifth set by taking the fourth, 25-17. The Golden Knights jumped ahead behind Beaubrun and Val Wadas at the service line to lead 14-6. Pitt-Johnstown fought back with five straight points on Valle Villegas' serve, with Rivera and Susko combining on a block of Williams, to trim the deficit to 14-11. Williams then served three aces in a 6-0 Gannon spurt, and the Golden Knights held on to force the fifth.
In the fifth set, Zuro Cirino got the Mountain Cats on the board first, and Gannon built a 5-3 lead on an ace from Williams and another from Ela Demirel. Pitt-Johnstown took control with three straight points on Berry's serve, two coming on Gwiazda attack errors and the third on a Knight kill, to go up 7-5. The teams traded points until Harmon and Zuro Cirino combined on a block of Webber to put the Mountain Cats up 10-9. Valle Villegas then added back-to-back points from the service line, including an ace against Beaubrun, for a 12-9 lead. Gannon fought back, and Zuro Cirino's kill made it 13-11, but Yazicioglu's attack error sealed the 15-13 victory.
Webber led Gannon (20-5, 10-3 PSAC) with 16 kills, while Gwiazda, Yazicioglu and Williams added nine apiece. Wadas finished with 21 assists and Ava Gainer had 20. Claxon led the Golden Knights with 15 digs, Gwiazda had four blocks and Williams had four aces.
