HUNTINGDON, Pa.  — The Catholic volleyball team had their season come to a close on Thursday night, falling to top-ranked Juniata in the Landmark Conference Semifinals after a thrilling victory in the quarterfinal on Tuesday. 

The Cardinals hung tough in the early stages of the opening set as the frame was all tied at 12 after the first several rallies. The Cardinals went on an 8-3 run to get ahead 12-11 with two kills apiece from Julia Raab and Erin Faughnan and a kill from Kate Berra. The Eagles responded with an 8-0 run spurred by several players to regain control of the set. Mackenzie Coley finished off the opening set win with a kill to give Juniata a 1-0 lead. 

The second set was dominated by the Eagles who cruised to a 25-13 victory to take a commanding lead. The offense was clicking for Juniata, hitting .367 on 30 swings while picking up 14 kills in the set. They also locked in on the defensive end, holding the Cardinals to just seven kills and a .083 hitting percentage. 

Juniata continued its solid play into the third and decisive set to coast to a 3-0 sweep victory over Catholic and once again advance to the Landmark Conference championship.

Raab led the Cardinals in kills with nine while Faughnan and Laci Freitas added four each. Grace Guerin recorded an ace in the contest and also had two blocks. Anna Maria Carella had a team-high nine assists while Berra contributed six. Gaby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli recorded 16 digs in the match ahead of Carella (9) and Raab (7). 

Hernandez-Ferraiuoli finished senior season with a total of 634 digs, bringing her career total to 1,598. She ranks sixth in program history in career digs after passing Caroline Kelly who notched 1,566 from 2018-21 on Tuesday. Guerin finished her season season with 46 solo blocks and 81 block assists for a total of 127. In her career, Guerin tallied 128 solo blocks and 245 block assists for a total of 373. She ranks second in program history in block assists, just 12 away from the record holder. She also ranks fifth all-time in total blocks. 

Juniata will advance to the Landmark Conference Championship against Scranton on Saturday. They will look to remain the only program in conference history to win the championship while also continuing their Division III record win streak. 

The Cardinals finished their 2024 campaign with 15 victories and their first Landmark postseason victory in over 10 years with their 3-1 win over Susquehanna on Tuesday.