WHEELING, W.Va. (Dec. 2) – The fifth-seeded Vulcans were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 loss (25-19, 21-25, 25-17, 25-19) to fourth-seeded Pitt-Johnstown on Friday evening.

With the loss, the California University of Pennsylvania volleyball team finishes the season with a 22-10 overall record. The Vulcans have now posted at least 20 victories in a season 12 times over the last 13 years. Meanwhile, Pitt-Johnstown improves to 25-9 this season and advances to face top-seeded and host Wheeling Jesuit in the second round tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 3.

Senior Danielle Hayes (Erie, Pa./McDowell) led the team with 15 kills while posting a .205 hitting percentage. She also registered 11 digs against the Lady Cats for her 16th kill/dig double-double of the season. Hayes finished her career ranked 10th all-time in school history with 1,103 kills while being the only player from the PSAC this year to total at least 450 kills.

Fellow senior Megan Litoborski (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) tallied 33 assists and a team-leading 19 digs for her 17th assist/dig double-double of the year. She led the PSAC this season with 10.35 assists per set while tallying over 1,200 assists. Litoborski closed her career ranked sixth all-time in school history with 2,927 assists while also recording over 1,000 career digs.

Sophomore Seairra Barrett (Center Twp., Pa./Central Valley) finished with 10 kills while hitting at a .304 clip and classmate Tina Bellhy (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) added six kills on Friday night. Defensively, junior Ashley Leto (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and sophomore Bayleana Sowers (Mt. Wolf, Pa./Northeastern) both collected 15 digs in the loss. Bellhy controlled the net with seven block assists and Hayes added four total blocks against the Lady Cats.

Early in the first set, Cal U won four of five points to take a 6-3 lead on a block assist by Bellhy and Litoborski before UPJ won three-straight points to tie the score at 6-6. The Vulcans countered with three-consecutive points and later led by a 13-11 margin before the Lady Cats responded with six-unanswered points to take a 17-13 lead on a block assist. Cal U won three of the next four points to cut the deficit to 18-16 on a block assist by Bellhy and Hayes. However, UPJ earned four of the next five points and eventually posted a 25-19 victory.

The second set featured a combined nine ties and three lead changes. The Vulcans claimed six of seven points early in the set to take a 7-4 lead on a block assist from Bellhy and Hayes. UPJ then won three-straight points to tie the score at 7-7 before the teams traded points. With the scored tied at 13-13, Cal U rallied off six-consecutive points to take a 19-13 lead on a service ace by Sowers. UPJ responded with three-unanswered points to cut the deficit to 19-16 before the teams traded runs of back-to-back points. The Vulcans called timeout after losing two-straight set points before a block assist completed the 25-21 win.

In the third set, Cal U was held to a .047 hitting percentage after committing eight attacking errors. The Lady Cats won five of six points to take an early 7-3 lead which forced the Vulcans to use a timeout. UPJ later rallied off five-straight points to extend its lead to 13-5 before Cal U worked the deficit down to 17-11 on back-to-back kills by Barrett. The Lady Cats answered by winning five of the next six points to take a commanding 22-12 lead. Cal U then earned five of the next seven points before UPJ won the set by a 25-17 margin.

The Lady Cats claimed the opening four points of the fourth set and held a 6-1 lead before the Vulcans answered by winning five of seven points to cut the deficit to 8-6 on a block assist. UPJ rallied to win four of the next five points to stretch the lead to 12-7 before Cal U rallied off four-unanswered points to trim the deficit to 12-11. The teams traded the next dozen points before the Lady Cats seized control of the set by winning five-straight points to take a 23-17 lead and eventually a 25-19 victory.