GLASSBORO, N.J.  — The Catholic volleyball team traveled on Saturday afternoon to take on Rowan and Lebanon Valley in a tri-match on Saturday afternoon, in its first road tri-match of the season. 

MATCH ONE- Rowan 3, Catholic 0 (25-15, 28-26, 25-15)

After the Profs took the opening set 25-15, while hitting .333 with 12 kills, the second set came down to the wire with the Cardinals trying to even the match up at one. Catholic took the first four points in the match as Julia Raab, Erin Faughnan and Mariana Roman Cruz opened the set with kills and Anna Maria Carella added an ace. Rowan fought back and had the score tied at 14 before Vivian O'Brien and Juliette Cummings delivered kills in a 4-1 run for the Cardinals to take an 18-15 lead. Catholic earned a set point at 24-22 but Rowan took back-to-back volleys to pull even at 24. The Profs took two of four of the last five points to slightly take the set 28-26, gaining a 2-0 lead. 

The Profs used a 6-0 run to get ahead 11-7 and also had a 6-0 run later in the set as they lead for the majority of the set to win 25-15 to earn a 3-0 sweep over the Cardinals.

Roman Cruz and Cummings lead the way in kills for the Cardinals with six each and Faughnan also added five. Kate Berra and Carella were the assist leaders with 11 and 10 respectively. 

Tanya Sichling was the digs leader for the Cardinals with a season-high 17 and Raab also added seven to her total.

MATCH TWO- Catholic 3, Lebanon Valley 2 (25-15, 25-22, 25-27, 19-25, 15-5)

The Cardinals were extremely efficient in the first set, hitting .367 with 13 kills to take the set comfortably, 25-10. An 8-0 Catholic run allowed it to storm ahead 11-3 with Julia Turchiano picking up two kills in the run and Berra recording an ace. Faughnan delivered the final point in the set with a kill on an assist by Carella to close out a dominant set one win.

The second set was back and forth in the early stages but back-to-back aces from Carella put the Cardinals ahead 16-14. Roman Cruz collected three kills in a 4-0 run to help extend the lead and Catholic had a set point at 24-22. This time Raab picked up the set closing kills to give the Cardinals a 25-22 set win to take a 2-0 lead. 

The Cardinals got ahead 23-20 in the third set with an opportunity to close out a sweep. However, the Flying Dutchmen caught fire late in the set, closing it out on a 7-2 run to storm back and force a fourth set with a 27-25 set win. Lebanon Valley forced a winner take all fifth set by closing out the fourth set, 25-19.

Catholic once again put together a convincing set win to take the match in the fifth frame. With the score at 4-3, the Cardinals seized control with a 8-0 run when Caroline Welsh, Cummings, Lily Godbold and Roman Cruz all delivered kills. Berra and Raab both recorded the final two kills in the match for a 15-5 fifth set win to earn Catholic the victory. The Cardinals are now 3-5 on the season after splitting the two matches. 

Raab matched her career-high in kills in the second match with 17 to lead the way for Catholic. Roman Cruz and Faughnan finished behind her with eight and six respectively. Berra was the assist leader with a season-high 24 in the win. Carella recorded six aces in the match.

Alejandra Garcia finished with a team-high 15 digs in the victory and Berra added 10 more digs to finish with a double-double in the match. 

The Cardinals next match will be at Stevenson on Wednesday, September 17. The match will start at 6 pm at Owings Mills Gymnasium.