WASHINGTON, D.C. - Catholic volleyball won an exciting first set on Wednesday evening at Gallaudet, but ultimately fell 3-1 to the Bison in a non-conference tilt. The Cardinals fall to 15-8 while Gallaudet picks up its 23rd win of the season. 

Senior captain Olivia Blondin continued her torrid stretch, recording 23 kills and 17 digs on the night while hitting .246 for Catholic. Blondin was joined in double figure digs on the defensive end by Gaby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli (26), Izzy Steinberg (14), and Sydney Sheppard (11). The Cardinals also recorded nine blocks, but Catholic hit just .123 in the match. 

Both teams traded runs early in the first set with Gallaudet jumping ahead 6-3 with a five-point run before Catholic took the next five to lead 8-6 with two kills from Halie Murphy and ace from Brynne Burgess. After Tanya Sichling and Erin Faughnan combined for a block, Blondin added a kill and Catholic forced a Gallaudet timeout after taking a 14-9 advantage. Gallaudet nearly swung the set with a 9-1 run, giving the Bison a 20-17 lead before getting within two points of grabbing the first set while holding a 23-18 edge. However, Blondin caught fire, recording three straight kills to pull the Cardinals within two. Gallaudet made it set point, but Blondin added a fourth kill in five points to keep Catholic alive. Sheppard recorded an ace and a Faughnan kill put the Cardinals ahead 25-24. The battle raged on with it swinging back in the direction of the Bison, but Catholic earned the final three points to steal the set, 29-27. 

The Bison used a 9-0 run in the second set to take an 11-4 lead. Catholic trailed by at least five points for the remainder of the set as Gallaudet knotted things up with a 25-17 win. 

Catholic led 13-9 in the third set after a pair of Blondin kills and a strong run with Faughnan in service, but Gallaudet retook a 16-15 lead a few moments later. Sichling factored into three straight points with a kill and two block assists as Catholic jumped back on top 18-16. Gallaudet went on a five-point run to take a 22-19 lead before winning the set 25-20 to go up 2-1. 

The Cardinals showed great resiliency in the fourth set, falling behind 19-12 before roaring back to take a 20-19 edge as Steinberg recorded her second service ace in a three-point span. Gallaudet rallied to jump back on top before a Blondin kill and two attack errors tied the set at 24. The Bison took the last two points to close out Catholic in four sets. 


Hernandez-Ferraiuoli went over 400 digs for the season with 26 in the match, her eighth match this season with 20 or more digs. The senior libero is now just 19 shy of 800 for her career. Blondin surpassed 750 kills for her career, now sitting at 763 in 84 career matches. With 250 digs now for the season, she is 17 shy of 700 for her career. Burgess went over 400 digs for her career with five in the match. The junior defensive specialist is one shy of 100 for the season. 

Catholic will host Moravian on Friday night for its Dig Pink game at 6 p.m. on Franny Murray Court.