BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Catholic split Saturday's tri-match, finishing up its season with a record of 15-16. The Cardinals defeated Moravian in four sets after falling to Scranton in three.

Catholic 0-3 Scranton (15-25, 17-25, 19-25)

The Catholic women's volleyball team dropped its first game of the day in three sets to Scranton. Freshman middle Erin Faughnan hit .417 and totaled five kills while junior Olivia Blondin and senior Brittany Connatser combined for 12 kills in the match.

Junior setter Sydney Sheppard finished with 20 assists on the team's 23 kills. Catholic tallied seven service aces in the match, getting two each from Sheppard and junior Gaby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli.

Catholic took a shot in the second set, leading 15-13 after a kill from freshman Halie Murphy and an attack error from the Royals. However, the Royals took the next six points before clinching a 25-17 set win.

The Cardinals also had a chance in the third, trailing 18-17 after a block from freshman Claire Harris, but the Royals jumped ahead 22-17 before winning it 25-19.

Catholic 3-1 Moravian (20-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-19)

After dropping the first set, the Cardinals roared back to win the next three sets to finish off the 2022 season with a win. Catholic hit .177 for the match, getting 13 kills each from Connatser and Blondin. Sophomore Grace Guerin hit .353 with eight kills while also assisting on six blocks in the win.

The Cardinals responded to dropping set one with an 11-2 run to open up the second. Six different Cardinals combined to score the first seven points. Blondin added back-to-back aced to take an 11-2 lead. A pair of kills from Murphy put the Cardinals up 15-5. Connatser and Guerin racked up the final two kills for a 25-15 win.

Not much changed in set two as Catholic went on a 7-0 run with sophomore Brynne Burgess serving to start the set. Faughnan had three of the first five kills for Catholic. An ace from freshman Izzy Steinberg and a kill from Guerin pushed the lead to 10 for the first time at 13-3.

An ace from Tanya Sichling gave Catholic its largest lead of the set at 17-4. Moravian cut it to seven, but Blondin and Connatser pushed the lead back to nine with a pair of kills. Steinberg finished set three with an ace. 

Moravian stayed in it to start the third set, trailing just 11-10 before a kill from Blondin and a pair of aces from Burgess. The Greyhounds cut it to one again, but a Sheppard block and another Steinberg ace pushed the lead back to four at 19-15.

Moravian gave one final push to get within two, but Catholic scored three straight to lead it 23-18. Blondin finished off the match for Catholic with a kill.

The Cardinals season comes to a close, but Catholic saw a 10-win improvement from 2021 to 2022.