RALEIGH, N.C. — After falling behind 2-0 to Guilford, the Catholic volleyball team rallied in the final three sets to complete an epic 3-2 comeback win over the Quakers to earn its second win of the season. The team ended up splitting its two matches on the day after falling to Randolph-Macon later on.
MATCH ONE - Catholic 3, Guilford 2 (22-25, 19-25, 25-17, 25-15, 15-13)
After struggling to get into a rhythm in the first two sets, Catholic began its comeback by taking six straight volleys early on in the set to take a 7-3 lead.
Lily Godbold started off another Cardinal run with a kill, followed by two
Tanya Sichling kills and a
Kate Berra ace to put Catholic up by six. The Cardinals held as much as an 11 point lead during the frame and held Guilford to just a .071 hit percentage to take the third set.
The fourth set was the most successful set offensively for the Cards so far this season. As a team they held a .394 hit percentage, finishing with 15 kills on just two attacking errors.
Julia Raab took over the game in this set, tallying six kills and spurring an 8-0 run for Catholic to get out to a 17-10 lead. The Cardinals held a comfortable 24-15 lead and a swing from Sichling closed out the set to force a decisive fifth set.
Having played in a five set match earlier in the week, the Cardinals kept their composure and played extremely well in the decisive set. Godbold came up with a kill to put the Cardinals on top 6-3, after a couple of service aces from the squad. With the score at 7-6, Godbold and Sichling each came up with three kills in a row between the two of them to put the Cards on top 10-6. After four consecutive Guilford points to pull back even,
Vivian O'Brien and Raab came up with kills to grab the lead back and put Catholic in position to take the match. Catholic captured a thrilling victory on a service error from Guilford to close out a thrilling comeback win 3-2.
Several players had stand out performances in the match, including Sichling who finished with a season-high 12 kills and also tallied 18 digs for a double-double. Raab finished with double-digit kills for the first time in her collegiate career with 10.
Anna Maria Carella and Berra split time with the setting duties and racked up 21 and 16 assists respectively. Carella's 21 were a career-high for the freshman.
Grace Guerin was strong in the middle as well for Catholic, picking up three solo blocks and five assisted ones.
Gaby Hernandez-Ferraiuoli totaled her highest dig total of the season with 29 to lead the Cards.
MATCH TWO - Randolph-Macon 3, Catholic 0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-21)
The Yellow Jackets came out on fire in the first set offensively, hitting .452 while only committing two attacking errors. Randolph-Macon got out to a 21-8 lead late in the set, and despite a late rally from Catholic after three Sichling kills, the Yellow Jackets picked up a 25-15 opening set win.
In the second set, the teams split each of the first 12 volleys to be even at six.
Ava Borcky and Carella each picked up kills for the Cardinals during this opening stretch. Randolph-Macon opened a slight lead for itself, scoring five of six to get ahead 11-7. Later in the set, Raab stepped up again on the day with back-to-back kills to get Catholic back within one, but it was immediately answered by five of eight rallies going to Randolph-Macon. The Yellow Jackets capitalized on the late lead and finished off a 25-21 win to get ahead 2-0.
The third set was Catholic's most successful set on offense in the match as they finished with 10 kills as a team. Randolph-Macon got out to an early 7-3 lead, and would not trail for the remainder of the set. Allison Lach picked up the final kill of the set to close out a sweep for the Yellow Jackets.
Sichling and Raab once again led the attack for Catholic with both contributing six kills. Sichling picked up her second double-double of the day by adding in 10 digs and Hernandez-Ferraiuoli once again led Catholic in that category with 16.
The Cardinals are back in action on Wednesday, September 11 when they welcome in the Mustangs of Stevenson. The match is set to start at 7 pm inside the Dufour Center.
