The Pitt-Johnstown women's volleyball team opened play at the Shepherd (WV) University Tournament with a dominant straight-set victory over Millersville, winning 25-16, 25-15, 25-9 on Friday morning at the Butcher Athletic Center. Ellie Zuro Cirino led all Pitt-Johnstown hitters with seven kills. The win was the fifth in a row for the Mountain Cats, who improved to 6-2 on the season.
Ellie Zuro Cirino paced the Pitt-Johnstown attack with a team-high seven kills, while Alanna Rivera added five kills of her own. Brooke Pelloni, Dannika Susko, Kiara Harmon, Tatum Hall and Wildaris Cortes Rivera each chipped in four kills as the Mountain Cats spread the offense across the lineup. Caroline Knight turned in an all-around effort with 10 digs, two blocks and two aces, and Kiara Harmon matched her with two blocks and two aces of her own. Arielis Valle Villegas ran the offense efficiently, finishing with nine assists, while Abigail Berry and Avery Barrett each added six. Avery Koontz was steady on the back row with nine digs, and Anna Ritter contributed seven.
Pitt-Johnstown controlled the match from start to finish statistically, out-hitting Millersville 37 kills to 23 while committing far fewer errors, 10 to 23, for a .325 hitting percentage compared to Millersville's .000. The Mountain Cats also won the battle at the service line and in the back row, holding advantages of 7-3 in aces, 5-3 in blocks, 37-21 in assists and 47-31 in digs, and outscored Millersville 49-29 in total points.
The first set was tightly contested early, with the two teams trading points through the midway point before Pitt-Johnstown pulled ahead behind kills from Harmon and Nava-forcing errors on the Millersville side, closing it out 25-16.
The Mountain Cats carried that momentum into the second set, building an early cushion and never relinquishing it en route to a 25-15 win, with Zuro Cirino and Harmon combining for a string of kills down the stretch.
Pitt-Johnstown turned the third set into a rout, opening with the bench unit and getting a big lift from Cortes Rivera and Pelloni, who combined for a run of kills late in the set to close out the 25-9 victory and complete the sweep.
Millersville was led offensively by Charlee Russick, who tallied a match-high eight kills, followed by Alex Nava and Sam White with four apiece. Addison Reustle directed the Millersville offense with 10 assists, and Julia Chunta added nine. Becca Hartranft paced the Marauders defensively with eight digs. Millersville fell to 1-4 on the season with the loss.
Pitt-Johnstown returns to action later Thursday afternoon, facing host Shepherd University at 5 p.m. in the second round of the Shepherd Tournament.
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