WASHINGTON, D.C. - Catholic volleyball cruised to a 3-0 victory over Washington College on Wednesday night on Franny Murray Court to improve the Cardinals record to 3-1 on the season. Washington College fell to 0-5 in 2023. 

The Cardinals put forth a total team effort, hitting .240 as a group and getting four our more kills from four different players. Olivia Blondin continued her standout senior campaign with 10 kills, seven digs, and an ace on Wednesday night. She hit .290, putting her at .361 on the season. Blondin has yet to hit lower than .242 in a match this season. 

Blondin was joined in the offensive effort by eight kills from Erin Faughnan and seven from Halie Murphy. Faughnan hit a stout .571 for the match, tying her career-high in kills. She also added two solo blocks for good measure. Sydney Sheppard assisted on 21 of the team's 34 kills while adding in three kills of her own. 

Defensively, Catholic finished with 49 digs as Gaby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli led the way with 14. Sichling and Izzy Steinberg had 11 each for Catholic. 

Catholic never led by more than two until the final point of a 25-22 first set victory. The Cardinals took a 17-15 lead on a Faughnan kill before three straight Shorewomen points put Washington College up 18-17 after a Gianna Romano ace. Washington College led 22-21 after an Angelina Schaber kill, but Catholic scored the final four points to take the set. Murphy put down kills for the final two points of the set. 

Blondin and Murphy each had four kills in the second set while Faughnan chipped in with three as Catholic took it 25-19. After falling behind 7-5, Catholic ripped off a 9-0 run with Steinberg at service for eight of the points. Blondin gave the Cardinals an 8-7 lead with a kill before back-to-back Faughnan swings made it 11-7 in favor of the Cardinals. Steinberg recorded an ace before Blondin and Sheppard picked up kills to put Catholic up 14-7. A few moments later, a 6-1 run for Catholic put the set away as the Cardinals took 21-12 lead on a kill from Murphy. 

In the third set, Grace Guerin logged a kill to put the Cardinals up 10-6. After Washington College cut Catholic's lead to one at 14-13, Heather Stout's team ripped off five straight points to go up 19-13 on another Steinberg ace. Blondin kills gave Catholic its 23rd and 24th points of the set before an attack error ended a 25-16 set victory. 

By The Numbers

• Blondin is up to 53 kills in just four matches this season as she averages 4.08 kills per set. With seven more digs, she is also at 39 digs on the season. Blondin is five kills away from 500 for her career and 26 digs away from 500 as well. 
• In just 33 matches played as a Cardinal, Sheppard is now just 73 assists away from 1,000 for her Catholic career. She averages 7.99 assists/set for her Catholic career and is at 9.62/set in 2023. 
• In four matches this season, Catholic is hitting .256 while its opponents hit just .151.