CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Despite strong offensive performances from freshman Halie Murphy and junior Olivia Blondin, the Catholic women's volleyball team dropped a heartbreaking five-setter to Washington College on Wednesday night.

The Cardinals opened up the contest with a set one victory, taking it 26-24. Each of the five sets was decided by four points or less, with Catholic winning sets one and three by two points each.

After falling behind 24-20 in the first set, Catholic rallied back, winning six straight points to steal the set from the Shorewomen. Senior Brittany Connatser registered a pair of kills to make it 24-22 before a Shorewomen attack error and an ace from junior Sydney Sheppard tied the contest at 24. Sheppard set up freshman Tanya Sichling for the kill that gave Catholic the set lead and the Cardinals pulled ahead 1-0 after an attack error from Washington College.

The Cardinals were the much stronger attack in the first set, outhitting Washington College .231 to .000, but the Shorewomen were strong in service, notching five aces to Catholic's one.

The roles reversed on the attack in set two as the Shorewomen hit .273 on their way to a 25-21 set victory, tying the contest at 1-1. The Cardinals tallied four aces in the set but neutralized it with four errors in service as well.

Catholic rallied once again in the third set, fighting back to earn a 27-25 victory, putting the Cardinals in the driver's seat, up 2-1. Catholic took an 8-5 lead in the set after three straight kills, one from freshman Erin Faughnan and two from Blondin. After a Shorewomen attack error put Catholic up 10-7, Washington College scored three straight to make it 10-10 before taking four of the next five points to jump ahead 14-11.

Catholic cut it to 15-14, but the Shorewomen took three straight once again to make it 18-14. However, the Cardinals had an answer once again, using an ace from Murphy and a kill from Faughnan to tie the contest at 18-18. The Shorewomen took five of the next six points, giving them a 23-19 lead before the Cardinals once again overcame and rallied. Sheppard notched another ace to cut it to 23-21, but an error put the Cardinals' backs against the wall. Connatser kept the game alive with a kill and then Sichling tied it with an ace after a Washington College attack error. Washington College took the next point, but back-to-back kills from Murphy made it 26-25 in favor of the Cardinals and junior Gaby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli served up an ace to put the Cardinals ahead 2-1.

The Shorewomen tied the contest back up after the fourth set, taking it 25-22 over the Cardinals. Catholic was the better attack, hitting .167 to Washington College's .080, but the Cardinals fell short despite taking an 18-17 lead after a Washington College attack error. Catholic was able to tie the set at 19-19 after a Sichling kill, but the Shorewomen took six of the next nine points to steal the set away from Catholic.

In the fifth-and-final set, Catholic kept it within one at 9-8, but three of the next four points went the Shorewomen's way as they took a 12-9 lead they wouldn't give up, taking the final set 15-11 to knock off Catholic. The Cardinals hit .500 in the final set, but four Washington College aces were the difference.

For the contest, Catholic hit .183 to Washington College's .123, but the Shorewomen totaled 20 aces to Catholic's 10. Murphy tallied 15 kills while hitting .211 for Catholic while Blondin has 12 kills and hit .286. Sheppard dished out 33 assists and added five digs and Hernandez-Ferrauioli had 15 digs and three aces for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals will return to action on Saturday afternoon in a tri-match hosted by Rowan University. Catholic opens with Widener at 1 p.m. before taking on host Rowan at 3 p.m. in New Jersey.