WASHINGTON, D.C. - Catholic University women's volleyball hit .289 in a 3-0 victory over Gallaudet on Wednesday night, getting a balanced offensive performance in the win. The Cardinals managed to take all three sets in a competitive match, winning 25-23, 25-16, 25-23. 

Junior Olivia Blondin led the offense tallied a match-high 13 kills, hitting an efficient .333 to lead the Cardinals. The outside hitting tandem of senior Brittany Connatser and freshman Halie Murphy combined for 18 kills, hitting .316 and .353 respectively. Junior Sydney Sheppard was her usual strong self, handing out 33 assists on the team's 40 kills. 

On the defensive side, Catholic held Gallaudet to a .124 hitting percentage, getting 18 digs from sophomore libero Brynne Burgess and six total blocks in the contest from the team. Sheppard chipped in with eight digs for Catholic. 

Set one was a game of runs as Catholic took a 7-1 lead to force a Bison timeout. Four different Cardinals picked up a point in the early stretch while Blondin had three of the team's first five kills. Gallaudet roared back to tie the set at 8-8 with a service ace. Catholic led 12-11 before another Bison run put Gallaudet up 16-12 forcing a Catholic timeout. 

The Cardinals cut it to 17-15 after the timeout, but Gallaudet stretched it back to a four-point lead at 20-16. Trailing 21-18, Murphy and Blondin picked up kills before a Sheppard service ace tied it at 21. The Cardinals took four of the next six points to steal back the first set 25-23 with Blondin closing it out. 

After leading 10-9 in set two, Catholic took over the rest of the way, outscoring Gallaudet 15-7 to take the set 25-16. The Cardinals used a 6-0 run to push the lead to 16-9. Gallaudet never got closer than six points, falling behind by as many as 12 before dropping the set by nine. 

The third set was a roller coaster similar to the first. Catholic fell behind by scores of 9-5 and 12-7 early on. After trailing 15-11, kills from Blondin and sophomore Grace Guerin cut the deficit to two. The Cardinals got back within one afrter a block from freshman Erin Faughnan at 18-17.

Moments later, Faughnan and Blondin picked up kills to tie the set before taking the lead on a Bison attack error. Gallaudet jumped back ahead with back-to-back points, but Catholic responded with a Connatser kill and a Faughnan ace. Gallaudet made it 24-23 before an attack error resulted in a Cardinal victory. 

Catholic improved to 10-12 on the season with the victory, doublng last year's win total with nine matches still on the 2022 schedule. 

The Cardinals will head to Carlisle, Pa. on Saturday for a tri-match with Dickinson and Ursinus.