Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 GLASSBORO, N.J. - Catholic volleyball defeated Widener and Rowan this afternoon to make it five straight victories for the first time since 2019. The Cardinals defeated Widener in three sets before taking a 3-1 victory over Rowan. Senior setter Sydney Sheppard reached 1,000 assists for her Catholic career this afternoon after logging 74 assists in the tri-match. 

Game 1 - Catholic 3, Widener 0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-16)

Catholic volleyball hit .336 in a dominant 3-0 sweep of Widener on Saturday afternoon to improve to 4-1 on the season. The Cardinals hit .275 or better in all three sets, including an astounding .455 in the third and final set.
 
Olivia Blondin continues to reach new heights in her senior campaign as she hit .444 for the match, totaling a game-high 19 kills while adding in 13 digs for her third double-double of the season. Sophomore Halie Murphy chipped in with 12 kills on the outside, marking her third 10+ kill performance of the season.
 
Sheppard handed out 38 assists for the match while libero Gaby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli (21) and right side Tanya Sichling (11) joined Blondin in double figures in digs.
 
Catholic's middle duo of Erin Faughnan and Grace Guerin had a combined 12 kills on just 18 swings.
 
The first set was the closest of the three as Catholic won it 25-21, but the Cardinals led 17-11 and controlled the set the entire way before Blondin finished it off with her eighth kill of the set.
 
Widener took a 7-4 lead in the second set before a 6-0 run put the Cardinals ahead 11-7. Izzy Steinberg recorded three aces during the run for Catholic. Widener kept the deficit at four before another 6-0 run put the Cardinals ahead 20-10 on a duo block from Guerin and Sichling.
 
Leading 14-11 in the third set, Catholic took five straight points to extend the lead to 19-11, ultimately putting the match out of reach. Hernandez-Ferraiuoli recorded a pair of aces while Blondin logged two kills. Faughnan's seventh kill of the contest closed out the match in a 25-16 set win.

GAME 2 - Catholic 3, Rowan 1 (10-25, 25-19, 27-25, 25-16)

After dominating against Widener, Catholic faced adversity early in the Rowan match, dropping the first set 25-10. The Cardinals regrouped and rallied to win the final three sets of the match, including a tight third set that took 27 points to win. 

Blondin, Murphy, and Sichling combined for 32 of the team's 43 kills in the match with Blondin just narrowly missing a second double-double for the day with 12 kills and nine digs. Guerin added six kills on nine swings, hitting .556 for the contest. 

Sheppard had 36 assists and six digs while Hernandez-Ferraiuoli (13) and Brynne Burgess (12) each reached double figures in digs. 

Catholic bounced back after a tough first set, taking an 8-6 lead in set two after an attack error on the Profs. Moments later, a Murphy kill and a Blondin ace pushed Catholic's lead to 13-9. Catholic jumped ahead 19-13 after another Blondin kill before closing out a 25-19 set win with another kill from Murphy. 

The Cardinals jumped ahead early in the third set, taking a 10-4 lead after Sheppard and Faughnan combined for a block. The lead remained six at 13-7 after Guerin put one down, but Rowan got back within two (16-14) after back-to-back Catholic attack errors. The Cardinals extended the lead back to five at 22-17, but Rowan took the next five points to tie the set. After Rowan tied it at 25-25, Faughnan put Catholic ahead before a Profs attack error gave the set to the Cardinals. 

Catholic owned the fourth set, taking an 8-1 lead thanks to three straight kills from Murphy. Blondin put Catholic ahead 13-3 in the set and Rowan never narrowed the gap any tighter than seven points the rest of the way. 

Catholic will take on Stevenson on Wednesday evening in Owings Mills, Md. as they look to make it six straight victories.