SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University volleyball team put forth a late comeback against Pitt-Johnstown on Tuesday but suffered a five-set loss to the Mountain Cats in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Quarterfinal matchup at Heiges Field House. Set scores were 23-25, 17-25, 25-20, 25-17 and 15-10.
 
Shippensburg (20-9) rallied from an 0-2 deficit to force a fifth set against Pitt-Johnstown (17-10).
 
The Raiders recorded 62 kills in the match and ended with a .271 hitting percentage. The Mountain Cats delivered 60 kills and hit .220. SU out-blocked UPJ 15-to-6, a new season-high for the Raiders. The visitors delivered 11 aces to SU's five.
 
The Raider offense was led by Hailey Cappleman who recorded 15 kills with a .364 hitting percentage. Cappleman added six block assists and three digs. Isabelle Bombas  tied her career high with 14 kills and hit .565 from the floor. Bombas committed just one error on 23 swings. Bombas added six block assists and tied her career high with three solo blocks.
 
Gracen Nutt recorded her second double-double of the season and third of her career; she tallied 11 kills and 14 digs.
 
Kearstin Davis and Jaiden Anderson split the setting duties. Davis dished out 31 assists and added seven digs and an ace. Anderson tallied 18 assists and 11 digs. Shay Kolivoski paced the Raider defense with 15 digs and tacked on five assists.
 
Pitt-Johnstown took the first lead of the match after a 4-1 scoring stretch, 7-5. An ace from Berkley Simmons and two blocks from Bombas gave the Raiders the lead, 8-7. A pair of kills from Bombas and a kill from Nutt increased the SU lead, 11-8. Three straight points from the Mountain Cats tied the set at 11. SU got a four-point lead after kills from Kylie Snyder and Cappleman, 18-14. A late 3-0 run from UPJ tied the set at 22. The Mountain Cats closed the set on a 3-0 run, 25-23.
 
The Mountain Cats opened set two with a 9-1 scoring stretch. The Raiders cut the deficit after a 4-0 run, 9-5. SU completed a late 5-1 scoring stretch the featured a pair of kills from Bombas and an ace from Kolivoski, 22-16. UPJ closed set two with a 2-0 run. 25-17.
 
The Raiders flipped the momentum in set three and opened with a 4-1 stretch. Cappleman and Snyder notched kills and combined for a block to increase the lead, 8-3. Cappleman added another kill and combined with Snyder for a block, 11-4. UPJ came within four after a 4-1 scoring stretch, 17-13. Kills from Nutt and Cappleman put the Raiders up by six, 20-14. SU arrived at set point after a kill from Snyder, 24-19. Nutt closed the set with a kill, 25-20.
 
After exchanging small leads at the start of the fourth set, the Raiders completed a 6-2 scoring stretch to lead 13-8. Cappleman delivered back-to-back kills to increase the lead to 17-11. Shea Stevens notched an ace in a 3-0 SU run, 20-12. The Mountain Cats responded with a 4-2 scoring stretch, 22-16. Bombas delivered a kill to put the Raiders at set point. A block from Cappleman and Clara Wildermuth forced the fifth set.
 
The Mountain Cats notched an early 3-0 run to take a two-point lead, 5-3. SU tied the set at six after a kill from Cappleman and a UPJ error. Pitt-Johnstown responded with a 6-0 run, 12-6. The Raiders came within three after a 3-0 run, 12-9. A 3-1 scoring stretch from UPJ ended the match, 15-10.
 
The Mountain Cats were led by Ellie Zuro Cirino, who recorded a match-high 22 kills with a .281 hitting percentage. Cirino tacked on an ace and nine digs. Caroline Knight delivered 19 kills for UPJ and tallied 14 digs and an ace. Abby Berry dished out a match-high 53 assists and tacked on an ace and six digs. The UPJ defense was led by Jessica Krug who recorded 25 digs and two aces.
 
Shippensburg will now await the results of the NCAA Selection Show, which is set for Monday night and will air on ncaa.com.