TOWSON, Md. — The Catholic volleyball team was picked to finish fourth in the Landmark Conference preseason poll, it was announced earlier this week. The Cardinals will look to make it into the Landmark Tournament field for the third consecutive season in the upcoming 2025 season.
Casey Burford enters her second season as the head coach of the Cardinals after leading the program to its first win in the conference tournament since 2013 with a 3-1 win over Susquehanna in the first round last season. Catholic went 15-21 in Burford's first season while going 5-4 in conference play to make the tournament.
Despite losing the team leader in kills and blocks from a year ago,
Grace Guerin, Catholic returns a veteran middle blocker in senior
Erin Faughnan, who was second on the team in kills with 217 while hitting a team-high .243 last season with 78 blocks. The Cardinals return three players who totaled 130 kills or more last season, including
Julia Raab who was third on the squad with 211 kills in her freshman campaign.
Laci Freitas also had a strong freshman season with 168 kills, highlighted by a career-high 19 kill performance while hitting .389 in the conference tournament against Susquehanna.
The Cardinals have a new libero for the season as
Tanya Sichling will start the season in the role after tallying 182 digs and 120 kills before missing the end of last season due to injury. Both setters also return for Catholic as
Kate Berra and
Anna Maria Carella split time last season and totaled 523 and 508 assists respectively.
Juniata topped the preseason poll as the unanimous favorites to once again win the conference, receiving all nine possible first place votes in the poll. Scranton, Elizabethtown, Catholic and Susquehanna rounded out the top five in the poll with Scranton receiving the other first place vote.
The Cardinals will start off the season playing in Newport News on Friday, August 29 when they take on No. 21 Christopher Newport at 3 pm and Coast Guard at 5 pm. Catholic's home opener will be a tri-match on Sept. 6 when they take on Eastern and FDU-Florham, starting at 12 pm.
| Team |
2024 Record |
Points (1st Place Votes) |
| 1. Juniata |
35-0 (9-0 LC) |
81 (9) |
| 2. Scranton |
17-14 (8-1 LC) |
73 (1) |
| 3. Elizabethtown |
18-13 (6-3 LC) |
59 |
| 4. Catholic |
15-21 (5-4 LC) |
58 |
| 5. Susquehanna |
19-13 (6-3 LC) |
53 |
| 6. Drew |
10-21 (4-5 LC) |
39 |
| 7. Moravian |
17-13 (4-5 LC) |
36 |
| 8. Lycoming |
9-15 (2-7 LC) |
25 |
| 9. Wilkes |
5-21 (1-8 LC) |
16 |
| 10. Goucher |
1-22 (0-9 LC) |
10 |
