WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Cardinals improved to 7-2 on the season with a pair of convincing 3-0 victories over Eastern Mennonite and Gwynedd Mercy on Saturday on Franny Murray Court. 

GAME 1 - Catholic 3, EMU 0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-18)

Sophomore middle Erin Faughnan set a career-high with 12 kills while hitting a monstrous .524 in the match as Catholic cruised to victory in straight sets. Outsides Halie Murphy and Olivia Blondin combined for 21 kills while also hitting efficiently in the victory. Heather Stout's team outhit Eastern Mennonite .273 to .098 for the match. 

Sydney Sheppard handed out 27 assists and chipped in with nine digs defensively while Gaby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli led the defense with 17 digs. 

Catholic served up 10 aces in the match, getting an ace from seven different Cardinals including two each from Blondin, Sheppard, and Brynne Burgess. 

The Cardinals led 14-11 early on in the first set after a kill from Blondin, but Eastern Mennonite went on a run, taking a 15-14 lead after a Madison Stockner kill. Laney Cline put down a kill a few minutes later to push EMU's lead to 19-16 before Murphy put down two kills and Hernandez-Ferraiuoli added an ace to tie the set at 19-19. The teams traded points, tying the match at 22-22, Sheppard and Faughnan combined on a block to win the set 25-22 for Catholic. 

Catholic used a seven-point run in the second set to take an 11-2 lead and essentially put the match out of reach in what proved to be a 10-point set victory for the Cardinals. Blondin had five kills in the set for Catholic. 

EMU took a 5-0 lead in the third set, but Catholic took the next six points and really never looked back. The Cards took 10 of 11 points to grow a 23-14 lead in the match before Faughnan closed out a 25-18 victory. 

GAME 2 - Catholic 3, Gwynedd Mercy 0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-16)

Catholic dominated the second match of the day, defeating Gwynedd Mercy by at least nine points in all three sets while hitting .297 for the match. The Griffins hit just .011 in the contest. 

Blondin (12) and Murphy (11) once again reached double-digit kills, hitting an efficient .391 and .318 respectively. Faughnan hit .429 for the match, adding seven more kills while tallying five blocks. 

Blondin recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs while also adding three service aces to the tally. Hernandez-Ferraiuoli had 11 digs for Catholic while also adding two more aces. 

Vivian O'Brien picked up four kills on just six swings in the match, seeing action in her fourth career match while doubling her previous best in kills. Fellow freshman Sydney Hanley got the start, adding a kill and two digs for Catholic while Claudia Morales saw her first career action with an assist and two digs. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Both Blondin (118) and Murphy (114) surpassed 100 kills for the season. The duo are combining for 7.73 kills per set this season. Blondin is second on the team with a .278 hitting percentage while Murphy is fourth, hitting .264. 
• Sheppard is closing in on 300 assists for the season with 289 in nine games. She is dishing out 9.63 assists per set and ranked inside the top-20 nationally coming into the weekend. 
• With 54 kills on the season, Faughnan has been as strong on the attack as you could hope, hitting .393 to lead Catholic. 
• For the season, Catholic has 54 service aces to just 38 allowed. Hernandez-Ferraiuoli (11) and Izzy Steinberg (10) are both in double figures. 

Catholic returns to Franny Murray Court on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. as the Cardinals face Gettysburg for a non-conference showdown.