Millersville, Pa. – Behind a career high 18 kills from senior
Rhianna Kalescky on Senior Day, Millersville put a scare into the top team in the PSAC East, but Pitt-Johnstown was able to hold off the Marauders in a 3-1 victory (30-28, 19-25, 25-16, 25-20).
Millersville had four players record six kills in addition to Kalescky's dominating 18.
Brooklyn Smith had 31 digs and six assists while
Grace Dawson remained hot posting 45 assists, five digs and six kills four sets. This marked the seventh straight match that Dawson recorded 30 or more assists and the fifth time this year the freshman has had 40 or more.
The first set thriller began as it would end, with Millersville and Pitt-Johnstown trading points. In a set that featured 17 ties, Pitt-Johnstown sent home four early kills to Millersville's three to hold a 6-5 advantage. Neither team led by more than two until the Mountain Cats looked to put the Marauders away by scoring three points in a row taking a two point lead at 24-22. On the brink of dropping the first set,
Grace Dawson and Kelsi Ceriana sent home back-to-back kills and a reeling Pitt-Johnstown called its second timeout. Millersville held a one point advantage (27-26) before they committed a trio of errors, and UPJ sent home a kill to cap off an electric first set, 30-28.
After falling just short in the first set, the Marauders were determined to take set two and jumped out to a 7-4 lead. When Pitt-Johnstown recorded two kills in a row to tie the score at seven, Millersville responded by taking the next two points as
Emily Kaledas sent home one of her six kills of the match. Pitt-Johnstown battled back to take an 11-10 lead before Kalescky stopped the rally with another kill to knot the score at 11. The Marauders looked to put some distance between the two sides as they score five of the next six points and extended their lead to four. The closest the Mountain Cats would get again was three when Marissa Erminio sent home two kills to make the score 18-15 in favor of the Marauders. Millersville would continue to score at the net as Kalescky sent home a kill and Ceriana recorded two of the last three points of the set in the same fashion to give the energized Marauders a 25-19 set victory.
The third set began much like the first as Millersville and Pitt-Johnstown matched each other point for point. With the score tied at seven, the Mountain Cats began to take control scoring the next three points aided by two Millersville errors to take a 10-7 lead. Pitt-Johnstown would extend their lead to five (16-11) when Millersville took a timeout. Out of the break, Erminio stayed hot recording two consecutive kills to extend the Mountain Cats lead to seven. Pitt-Johnstown kept pulling away as Erminio and George continued to dominate at the net and the Marauders faltered committing a pair of errors. Pitt-Johnstown would eventually finish off the set with a kill from Larissa Swank to top Millersville, 25-16.
In the fourth set, Pitt-Johnstown kept their foot on the gas pedal and pulled out to an early four point lead, 6-2. The Marauders responded with five of the next seven points to cut the deficit to just one. After a pair of errors, Millersville Coach
Brian Smith called timeout to regroup. The Marauders came out of the break firing as Kalescky recorded back-to-back kills as Millersville looked to mount a comeback. After a
Taylor Smith ace, the deficit was just two points before Pitt-Johnstown reeled off four straight points forcing another Millersville timeout. The Marauders responded out of the break once again as
Katie Witwer recorded two of her six kills in the match. When Kaledas recorded a pair of kills, the score was down to just 21-19 in favor of the Mountain Cats. Cambria Wierman recorded three consecutive kills, however, giving the Mountain Cats a 25-20 victory over Millersville.
After a five-match home stand, Millersville returns to the road as they travel to Shippensburg Tuesday at 7 p.m.
