JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (Sept. 16) – The Vulcans led for virtually the entire match on Friday night while capturing a 3-0 victory (25-22, 25-20, 25-18) at Pitt-Johnstown in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play.

With the win, the California (PA) volleyball team improves to 7-4 this season with a 1-1 mark in divisional action. The Vulcans have won six of the last seven matches in the series with the Mountain Cats since the 2018 campaign. Meanwhile, UPJ falls to 6-7 overall while it opened league play on Friday.

Sophomore Allie Droneberger (North Beach, Md./Northern) led the team with 12 kills on a .357 hitting percentage, marking her third-straight match with double-digit kills. Freshman Elisa Rugiero (Vicenza, Italy/Farina Vicenza) and senior Kaylin Burkey (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) both added six kills in the victory. Freshmen Ashley Barnes (Crofton, Md./Arundel) and Adrianna Favata (Peoria, Ariz./Liberty) guided the offense on Friday with 16 and 11 assists, respectively.

Sophomore Emily Buwawa (Uniontown, Pa./Laurel Highlands) paced the defense with 12 digs and Droneberger finished with nine digs. Burkey tallied four service aces in the win, while Buwawa collected three service aces.

The Vulcans led for virtually the entire first set while committing just three attacking errors. Cal scored the initial six points of the set and later extended the lead to 11-3. The Mountain Cats then responded with an 8-3 run to trim the deficit to 14-11 before the teams traded the next four points. UPJ followed with another 8-3 rally to tie the score at 21-21. The Vulcans then won three-straight points before claiming the victory by a 25-22 margin.

Cal benefited from eight attacking errors by UPJ in the second set to take a 2-0 match lead. The Mountain Cats raced out to a 5-2 lead before the Vulcans later won seven of eight points to take an 11-8 lead on a kill by Barnes. Following a timeout, the teams traded five points before Cal posted a 9-2 run to seize a 22-13 lead on a service ace by Buwawa. The Mountain Cats responded with a 7-1 rally to cut the deficit to 23-20 before the Vulcans won the final two points of the set, 25-20.

The Vulcans completed the match sweep after tallying 14 kills in the third set. UPJ again held a 5-2 lead to start the set before Cal won seven of eight points to take a 9-6 lead. The Vulcans later captured six of seven points to stretch the lead to 16-9 on back-to-back service aces by Rugiero. UPJ followed by winning six of eight points to trim the deficit to 18-15 before the teams traded the next four points. The Vulcans closed out the match by winning five of the last six points, 25-18.

Cal returns to action on Friday, Sept. 23, when it travels to face IUP at 7 p.m.