SAINT MARY'S CITY, Md. - Catholic volleyball bounced back from a short skid to defeat St. Mary's 3-0 in a non-conference road tilt on Wednesday evening. 

The Cardinals hit .316 in the contest, getting outstanding contributions from Halie Murphy and Erin Faughnan in the victory effort. Murphy recorded 14 kills and hit a robust .480 for the match while Faughnan added 10 kills with a hitting percentage of .500. 

On the defensive end, Olivia Blondin led the match with 12 digs while Grace Guerin recorded five blocks in the contest. 

The first set was the match's most competitive as the Seahawks led 11-9 before eventually succumbing to a 25-18 first set score. Catholic scored seven of eight points to take a 16-12 lead in the set with six of the points coming on St. Mary's errors. Tanya Sichling and Guerin combined for a block to put Catholic ahead 15-11 while a Blondin kill made it 16-12. The Seahawks cut the deficit to two again, but another six-point run for the Cardinals put them in command of the set. Murphy recorded two kills while Faughnan and Sichling had a kill each during the run. 

Catholic jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the second set with four early kills from Faughnan. St. Mary's pulled within five at 14-9, but a 6-0 run put the Cardinals up by 11 as Faughnan and Murphy each added a pair of kills. 

Tied 10-10 in the final set, Catholic used a 15-4 run to pull away and close out the match in straight sets. Blondin had a pair of kills followed by two service aces from Aileen McPartland as Catholic grew the lead to 16-10. Two more kills from Murphy moments late gave the Cardinals a 10-point lead and Catholic closed out the set with three of the final four points. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Blondin and Murphy are both closing in on 200 kills for the season and should each reach that number as conference play begins this weekend. Blondin holds onto the team lead with 192 while Murphy narrowed the gap, reaching 181 kills for the season. 
• Faughnan is three kills away from 100 for the season after her second consecutive 10+-kill match and the third of her career. The sophomore middle is averaging 1.90 kills per set, up from 1.23 as a freshman. Her hitting percentage has also improved from .272 to .350 through 15 matches. 
• Four of Catholic's five kill leaders are hitting .230 or better for the season. Guerin is the team's most efficient hitter with 52 kills and a .362 hitting percentage. 
• Sheppard is 34 assists away from 500 for the season and is currently averaging 9.14 assists per set. Sheppard averaged 7.79 assists per set and totaled 802 assists in 2022. 
• Catholic's .316 hitting percentage tonight was its second-highest of the campaign after hitting .336 in a three-set victory against Widener. Catholic also held St. Mary's to the second-lowest hitting percentage of the season after holding Gwynedd Mercy to a .011 hitting percentage 10 days ago. 

Catholic opens up Landmark Conference play on Friday night in Washington, D.C., hosting Drew before a home Saturday tri-match versus Scranton and Marymount.