Point Park defeats NCAA Division II Pitt-Johnstown in four sets
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pittsburgh-Johnstown (10-5) | 13 | 25 | 17 | 20 | 1 |
|
Point Park (4-11) | 25 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
PITTSBURGH -- Point Park University volleyball notched a strong victory over NCAA Division II Pitt-Johnstown, 3-1, on Tuesday night at the Student Center Gym.
It was a much-needed win for the Pioneers (4-11), who had control from the beginning. And despite dropping the second set, they marched on with victories in the next two sets holding off the Mountain Cats, who came into the match with a 10-4 record.
Point Park had leads of 11-3 and 20-6 on their way to a 25-13 win in the first set. Pitt-Johnstown edged the Pioneers in the second set, 25-23, to knot things up.
The Pioneers were holding a small lead through the first part of the third. Eden McElhaney pounded down a kill to stretch things out to a 20-14 lead. Haley Stormer finished off the set with two straight kills, 25-17.
The fourth set saw a 19-12 lead for Point Park. But the Mountain Cats made a run to get within 21-20. But that was all Pitt-Johnstown would get. The final four points of the match went to the Pioneers. That was with a couple of errors and kills from McElhaney and Marcella Erichsen.
The Pioneers had 47 kills in the four sets. Forty of those kills came from the pins with McElhaney leading the way with 16. Erichsen came up with nine while Giulia Follador made eight and Amanda Contois seven.
The Pioneers had some high percentages with McElhaney hitting .467 and Erichsen .412.
Setters Elise Wallace (22 assists, 5 digs) and Ashlynn Gulakowski (14 assists, 7 digs) combined for 36 assists and 12 digs.
Point Park had 17 total blocks as a team. Haley Stormer made eight, Mariah Perez tallied seven, and Contois picked up five. The back row had a double double from McElhaney with 11 digs and also eight more digs from Kenzie Zauner.
Point Park will be action again Friday night for a River States Conference matchup versus IU Southeast. First serve is 7:00 p.m. in the Student Center Gym. It's the first of two RSC home matches on the weekend with the Pioneers hosting Midway (Ky.) on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
