WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic volleyball team came into Franny Murray Court on Wednesday night looking to pick up its first win at home of the season. The Cardinals played a tightly played game against the Mustangs of Stevenson but made the necessary plays down the stretch to come away with a 3-1 win to move to 3-5 on the season.
The Cardinals started off the match with an impressive 20 kills and .327 hit percentage in the opening set which they took down 27-25. Catholic received offensive contributions up and down the roster in the set with
Ava Borcky,
Grace Guerin and
Tanya Sichling all tallying five kills and
Erin Faughnan adding four more. The set was played tightly throughout with neither team ever holding more than a four point lead and things came down to the wire all squared at 24. Rachel Lenz picked up a kill for Stevenson to go up 25-24, but Catholic was resilient and responded with an ace from Borcky followed by a Guerin ace to get ahead 26-25. Borcky concluded her outstanding first set with the set winning kill, assisted by
Brynne Burgess to take the 1-0 lead.
Stevenson pulled back even in the second set, hitting just under .300 and taking the set 25-20. The Cardinals bounced back nicely in the third set and opened up an early 9-5 lead after a kill from Guerin. After Stevenson evened things up at 10, Catholic went on 6-1 run with kills from Borcky and Sichling during the stretch. Much like the rest of the match Stevenson bounced back and got the score to 22-20 with a few volleys left to go. Sichling picked up a kill followed by a kill from
Mariana Roman Cruz to get the Cardinals the set point. Things ended on a high note for the Cardinals when Sichling stepped behind the service line and delivered a set clinching ace to put Catholic back on top 2-1.
The fourth set was no different than the rest of the match with it being tightly played throughout between the two squads. With the score at 21-18, the Mustangs came up with three straight points to tie it up. The Cardinals took the next three points in a row to earn themselves a match point opportunity after yet another kill from Borcky. Stevenson did not go down quietly, taking three points in a row to force the match to go to at least 26. The Cardinals once again kept their poise, and after an attack error from the Mustangs, Guerin stepped up with a match clinching kill on an assist from
Anna Maria Carella to knock off Stevenson, 3-1.
For the third time this season, Borcky led the Cardinals in kills with 16 on 43 swings, both of which were career highs for the freshman. Sichling came up with a season-high 13 kills and added in 13 digs, giving the junior second double-double in the last three matches. Guerin also finished with double-digit kills with 10 on the night. Carella and
Kate Berra once again split most of the setting duties and finished with 23 and 19 assists respectively. Berra also added in 12 digs to earn her second double-double of the season with
Gaby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli pacing Catholic in that category with 24. Guerin was also huge on the defensive end for Catholic and captured a career-high nine blocks, which moved her to third all-time in program history in block assists (188).
The win not only marked the first home win of the season for the Cardinals, but the first home victory under first year head coach
Casey Burford. Catholic has now won two of its last three contests with the victory tonight.
Catholic will once again be home this upcoming weekend, competing in a tri-match against Nazareth and Ramapo. The Cardinals first match is set to start against the Golden Eagles at 12 pm.
