SALISBURY, MD. —  The Catholic University volleyball team came up short in straight sets against Salisbury to open up the 2024 season on Friday night. 

Playing at the Margie Knight Classic, the Seagulls came out firing on all cylinders in the opening set and cruised to a 25-3 win to take control of the match. The momentum carried Salisbury into the second frame as they hit .452 as a squad in the set and were also sound defensively with four blocks. The Seagulls took the set, 25-9, to get out to a commanding 2-0 lead before ultimately completing the sweep with a 25-15 set three victory.

Graduate student libero Gaby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli led the defensive efforts for the Cardinals with 15 digs and also added a pair of service aces. Those 15 digs brings her career total to 979 with her striving for the 1,000 career digs mark this season. Sydney Hanley and Laci Freitas both had a pair of kills to lead the tally for Catholic. 

Salisbury as a team finished the match with a .355 hitting percentage and tallied up 13 service aces. Leading the efforts for the Seagulls was senior Natalie Uibel and Kiley McTaggart, both finishing the match with 10 kills. Gwen Eustace was also strong defensively for Salisbury with 6.5 blocks. 

The Cardinals are back in action tomorrow with a pair of matches at the Maggs Center. Catholic start's off the day at 10 am against Swarthmore before concluding the opening weekend schedule with a 2 pm match up against Mount Aloysius.