JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Senior Kiandria Cowart (East Liverpool, Ohio/East Liverpool) and junior Chelsea Howard (Atlanta, Ga./North Atlanta) combined for 10 blocks on Friday night, as the Vulcans rallied to earn a 3-2 win (25-17, 16-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-9) at Pitt-Johnstown in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play.

With the victory, the California University of Pennsylvania volleyball team improves to 8-6 this season with a 3-2 mark in league play. Meanwhile, the Mountain Cats fall to 9-4 overall with a 2-3 mark in conference action.

Howard led the team with a season-high 13 kills on a staggering .333 hitting percentage, plus tallied five blocks. Senior Sarah Moehring (Palm City, Fla./Martin County) posted 12 kills and carded a season-high 16 digs. Junior Kaylin Burkey (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) tallied 10 kills and collected eight digs in the match. Senior Marley Goff (Geneva, Ohio/Geneva) paced the team with 25 assists, while classmate Sarah Benson (Canton, Ohio/Jackson) posted 22 assists and three service aces.

Junior libero Kelly Lynch (Broadview Heights, Ohio/Holy Name) led the team with 19 digs, while Cowart and sophomore Jaiden Armitage (Happy Valley, Ore./Clackamas) recorded five and three blocks, respectively.

The Vulcans won the opening set by a 25-17 margin behind 10 kills on an impressive .308 hitting percentage. The Mountain Cats jumped out to an early 3-1 lead before the Vulcans scored three of the next four points to tie the score at 4-4. The teams would trade the next nine points before Pitt-Johnstown had a 14-12 lead. Cal U would take advantage of hitting errors by the Mountain Cats, as they scored seven-straight points to take a 19-14 lead. The Vulcans claimed three of the next four points to take a 22-15 lead on a kill by Burkey. Pitt-Johnstown cut the deficit to 23-17 before Cal U claimed the final two points to take the set 25-17.

Pitt-Johnstown tied the match with a 25-16 victory in the second set behind 13 kills on a .300 clip. The Mountain Cats jumped out to an early 5-1 lead before they rallied off three of the next four points to force a timeout. Out of the timeout, Pitt-Johnstown went on a 9-4 run to take a commanding 14-5 lead and forced the Vulcans to call their second timeout. Cal U won the next three points to cut the deficit to 14-8 before the Mountain Cats scored four-straight points to take a 22-13 lead. The Vulcans scored the next three points before Pitt-Johnstown closed the set by winning the final three points for a 25-16 win.

In the third set, the Mountain Cats would take a 2-1 match advantage with a 25-19 win after totaling 18 kills on a .359 hitting percentage. The teams traded the initial 11 points, as Pitt-Johnstown took a 6-5 lead before the Vulcans knotted the score 7-7 on a kill by Cowart. The Mountain Cats won the next three points to hold a 10-7 lead and force a timeout. Pitt-Johnstown would go on a 6-4 run to lead 16-11 before Cal U cut into the deficit by winning three-straight points to trail 19-15 on a service ace by Benson. The Mountain Cats closed the set on another 6-4 run to take the set 25-19.

After nine ties and three lead changes, the Vulcans were able to tie the match with a 25-20 victory in the fourth set. Pitt-Johnstown jumped out to a 4-2 lead before Cal U scored three-straight points to take an early 5-4 lead on a kill by Moehring. The teams traded the next 12 points with the Mountain Cats holding a 11-10 lead before the Vulcans rattled off four-straight points to hold a 17-14 lead and forced a timeout. Cal U would string together three-straight points on a kill by Cowart and back-to-back kills by Burkey to take a 21-17 lead. The Vulcans scored three-straight points again before Burkey clinched the 25-20 win with a kill.

Behind kills from Howard and Moehring, Cal U was able to jump out to a 6-3 lead before Pitt-Johnstown scored the next three of four points to force a timeout. The Vulcans scored the next two points on attacking errors by the Mountain Cats before scoring three of four points to take an 12-8 lead. Cal U claimed the match victory after three errors by Pitt-Johnstown, 15-9.

The Vulcans close out their five-match road trip tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 9, as they travel to face IUP for a divisional match beginning at 2 p.m.