WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic volleyball team took a short trip to the Field House at Gallaudet for the first day of the Worthington Classic where they took on Lynchburg and Marymount (Va.).

MATCH ONE - Lynchburg 3, Catholic 0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-19)

The Cardinals opened up the Worthington Classic against the Hornets of Lynchburg and were unable to slow down the Hornets offense and wound up losing in straight sets, 3-0.

The Hornets controlled the match throughout, especially on the offensive end. Lynchburg for the match had a total of 43 kills while only committing seven attack errors, finishing with a hit percentage .336.
After capturing the first 25-13, the Cardinals were unable to capture any momentum in the match and ultimately fell in straight sets, 3-0.

Tanya Sichling led the way in kills for the Cardinals with nine on 23 swings (.261), followed by Erin Faughnan who had seven on 11 swings (.636). Kate Berra and Anna Maria Carella split the assists with 11 and 10 respectively. Gaby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli was the digs leader with 12 and Grace Guerin added four more blocks to her total.

MATCH TWO - Catholic 3, Marymount 1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-18)

The Cardinals second match of the day came down to the wire in a majority of the sets in the match, but Catholic were able to come up with the key plays late in the sets to come away with a 3-1 victory over Marymount. 

After the match was tied at 17 in the opening set, the Cardinals went on a 5-0 to take control of the match late and take a 22-17 lead. Alani Rivera Diaz and Sichling both picked up kills to spur the run with an ace from Brynne Burgess as well. The Saints were resilient however and answered with a 5-0 run of their own to pull back even at 22. The Cardinals proceeded to take three of the last four volleys to finish off a set one win, with Sichling picking up two more kills.

The Cardinals dropped a 25-23 nail-bitter in the second set and it would be more of the same in the third set with the match even at one. Catholic found itself trailing 19-16 in the third set before turning it on and taking control back late. The Cardinals took three straight volleys to make it 19-19 but once again fell behind 23-22. With the pressure on, Ava Borcky became the go to player for Catholic down the stretch, picking up the final three kills to close out a win and put Catholic up 2-1.

The Cardinals hit .233 on 30 swings in the fourth set and closed out a victory on the night over the Saints in the fourth set. Catholic was also solid on the defensive end in the set, holding Marymount to just a .162 hitting percentage. The Cardinals defense was stellar throughout the match, holding the Saints to just a .126 hit percentage and also picked up 14 blocks as a team. After falling behind 12-9, Catholic controlled the rest of the set, going on an 8-0 run at one point, to close out the match with a 25-18 set four win.

Borcky and Faughnan both finished the match with 11 kills to lead the team, with Sichling adding nine more to her total. Hernandez-Ferraiuoli was solid in service, picking up four aces. Guerin was once again a force in the middle of the defense, tallying up seven more blocks, with Rivera Diaz also adding a career-high seven blocks.

The Cardinals continue their weekend at the Worthington Classic tomorrow with two more matches. The action starts at 1 pm tomorrow when Catholic takes on Bethel and then the Cardinals take on the hosts Gallaudet at 3 pm.