WASHINGTON, D.C. - Catholic sophomore
Halie Murphy posted 38 kills in two matches, but the Cardinals dropped a pair of tight contests to Scranton and Marymount (Va.) on Saturday at the DuFour Center. Catholic drops to 12-6 on the season and 1-1 in Landmark Conference play.
GAME 1 - Catholic 2, Scranton 3 (28-26, 18-25, 25-15, 23-25, 14-16)
The Cardinals and Royals traded haymakers throughout a highly entertaining back-and-forth affair with Scranton ultimately prevailing in the fifth set. Catholic hit .250 for the match, getting 22 kills from Murphy, 17 kills from
Olivia Blondin, and 12 from
Erin Faughnan in the losing effort. The trio each hit .224 or better with Faughnan hitting .385 while matching her season-high in kills.
Sydney Sheppard handed out 56 assists, marking her first match as a Cardinal where she surpassed the 50-assist mark.
Catholic trailed 8-4 and 10-5 early in the first set that they would ultimately win 28-26. No team had a run larger than four points in a true back-and-forth set as Murphy led the way for Catholic with seven kills on 14 swings. Trailing 22-19, Murphy and Faughnan recorded kills before an Erin Gretsky attack error tied the set at 22-22. Both teams traded points before Catholic got kills from Murphy and Blondin to jump ahead 25-24. Stephanie Margolies kept Scranton alive twice with kills before a Blondin kill and a Sheppard ace gave Catholic the set.
After Scranton took the second set and kept Murphy out of the score sheet, the Cardinals responded with a massive third set, taking a 2-1 lead with a 25-15 win. Catholic roared out to a six-point lead, going up 10-4 on a
Tanya Sichling kill. Scranton cut it to 12-9, but an 8-2 Catholic run put the Cardinals in position to take the match lead. Blondin and Murphy each had three kills in the set to enter double digits for the match.
Scranton took the fourth in what proved to be a tight set late, but was all Royals early as they built a 14-6 lead. The Cardinals used a 6-1 run to get within two points after a Sichling kill, but Scranton took five of the next seven points to hold a 21-16 lead. Kills from Faughnan and Blondin made it 24-23, but Erin Keaveney finished the set for the Royals to tie the match at 2-2.
Murphy was incredible in the fifth set, scoring seven of the team's 14 points via the kill, but Scranton ultimately closed out the match 16-14 to win in five sets. The set featured 12 ties and three lead changes before a service error and an attack error ended the match in Scranton's favor.
GAME 2 - Catholic 1, Marymount 3 (25-9, 24-26, 23-25, 23-25)
Catholic opened the match on an unconscious run, hitting .462 while recording a perfect sideout percentage (9-9) to pick up a 25-9 first set victory against a seemingly shellshocked Marymount bunch. Murphy had five kills while
Grace Guerin notched four kills and two blocks in the opening set as Catholic built its lead. Leading 10-4, Catholic used a 10-1 run to jump out to an insurmountable 20-5 lead. Marymount hit -.138 in the set.
The remainder of the match shifted back in Marymount's favor as they took each of the next three sets, all in tight fashion. The Saints hit .281 in a second set that saw seven ties as graduate Kaitlyn Doyle got rolling with five kills. Catholic led 10-8 after a 7-1 run, but Marymount responded by taking nine of the next 12 points to build a 17-13 lead. The Cardinals brought it all the way back to tie it at 24-24 after a Guerin block, but a service error and an attack error tied the match at 1-1.
The third set featured even more to-and-fro with 12 ties and seven lead changes as Marymount won it 25-23. Doyle and Myia Jeter each had four kills in the set for Marymount while Catholic continued to spread out the attack with Murphy, Faughnan, Blondin, Guerin, and Sichling each having six or more kills through three sets. Catholic took a 21-20 lead after a Murphy block, but the Saints grabbed four of the next five to retake the lead.
11 fourth-set tie scores brought us to 31 ties and 13 lead changes for the match as Marymount once again took a 25-23 victory. Murphy reached 16 kills for the match while Guerin finished with 11 kills and five blocks. Faughnan hit .444 for the match and also added three blocks.
Catholic will have a week off before hosting Dickinson and New Jersey City on Saturday for a tri-match starting at 2 p.m.
