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Box Score
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. (Nov. 23) – The California University of Pennsylvania volleyball team was defeated 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-16, 9-25, 15-12) by Pitt-Johnstown in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament Championship match Saturday afternoon.
The Vulcans (28-7) will now wait to see if they have earned one of the six at-large berths into the NCAA Tournament. Cal U was ranked third in the final regional rankings of the regular season last week. The Mountain Cats (25-10) earned the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament and claimed the institution's first PSAC championship since entering the conference this season.
Senior
Molly Delaney (Carmel, Ind./Westfield) led the Vulcans with 22 kills and 10 digs, while junior
Laurel Miller (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) also contributed a kill/dig double-double with 15 kills and a team-best 21 digs. Miller also contributed a career-high seven service aces.
The Cal U offense was guided by senior
Abbey Freund (Cottege Grove, Wis./Monona Grove) and freshman
Kristen Scurpa (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville), who finished with 29 and 19 assists, respectively. Meanwhile, sophomore libero
Samantha Rudy (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) aided the defense with 19 digs.
The Vulcans opened the first set with a 15-8 lead and never allowed the Mountain Cats to come within four points en route to a 25-20 first set win.
Cal U held its biggest lead of the second set at 9-7 before Pitt-Johnstown won nine of the next 12 points to take a 16-12 lead. The Vulcans climbed to within one twice at 20-19 and 24-23, but the Mountain Cats maintained the lead and closed out the set with a 25-23 victory to even the match.
Pitt-Johnstown came out strong in its third-set win, never allowing Cal U to hold the lead. UPJ led 9-6 before it went on to win five of the next seven points to force a Vulcan timeout at 14-8. The Mountain Cats led by as many as eight, 19-11, before they closed out the set with three-straight points to take a 2-1 match lead into the fourth set.
The script was turned in the fourth set, as the Vulcans turned in one of its best sets of the season in a 25-9 win to even the match at 2-2. Cal U opened up a 13-2 lead to force two UPJ timeouts in the early stages of the set. Leading 18-7, the Vulcans closed out the set with seven of the final nine points. Cal U held a .414 hitting percentage in the set, compared to the negative-.088 posted by UPJ. The Mountain Cats only won consecutive points once during the set.
Pitt-Johnstown was able to recover and never allowed Cal U to take a lead in the deciding fifth set. UPJ started the set with a 5-2 lead to force an early Vulcan timeout. Cal U then tied the set at 9-9 on a kill by
Mary Lavery (La Plata, Md./La Plata) before the Mountain Cats claimed five of the next six points to reach match point at 14-10.The Vulcans picked up a pair of kills by Delaney to pull within two at 14-12 to force a UPJ timeout. Pitt-Johnstown earned the winning-point out of the timeout to earn the PSAC title.
Mountain Cats head coach, and former Cal U All-American,
Joanna (Nist) Haupt led Pitt-Johnstown to the conference crown in her first season at the reigns. Haupt won three PSAC titles as a player between 2007-09. The last time Cal U lost in the conference tournament final was in 2006, her freshman season.
The Vulcans will now have to wait for the NCAA Division II Selection Show to see if their season will continue. The entire 2013 NCAA Division II Tournament field will be released on Monday, Nov. 25, with a live webcast of the selections on NCAA.com at 7:30 p.m.
