WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Catholic volleyball team hosted Mount Aloysius and Dickinson in a tri-match to celebrate senior day. Before the game, seniors Erin Faughnan and Tanya Sichling were recognized for their contributions to the Catholic volleyball program.

MATCH ONE: Catholic 3, Mount Aloysius 2 (25-15, 25-22, 21-25, 15-25, 15-12)

On senior day, it was only fitting for Faughnan to collect a kill and put the Cardinals on the board first. Early in the first set, the Cardinals seemed to have this game in their control with an 8-3 lead. This momentum continued throughout the set, highlighted by a service ace from Sichling to put Catholic ahead 15-6. Senior Faughnan sealed the first set with a kill giving the Cardinals their first set win of the day.

In the second set, the Cardinals seemed to be pulling away with a 21-12 lead, but the Mounties were able to have a 5 point streak to keep themselves in the set. With the score at 21-17, Julia Turchiano was able to earn a kill to break up the streak and bring the game to 22-17. Mount Aloysius, once again started a streak and found themselves only one point behind Catholic at 22-21. After some back and forth action, an attack from Julia Raab was tipped out to come away with the second set 25-22.

Catholic fell short in the third set, after going back-and-forth with Mount Aloysius. The highlight of the set for the Mounties is when they completed two rounds of 4 point streaks. Both times it brought them back from behind and placed them just ahead of the Cardinals. The Mounties' Mackenzie Barr had six kills in that set. With a kill from Barr, the Cardinals fell 25-21 in the third set.

The Cardinals were unable to get into a rhythm in the fourth set, giving the Mounties an early lead of 10-4. Catholic was unable to score more than two points in a row in that set, which allowed Mount Aloysius to take the set 25-15.

In the final winner-take-all set, the Cardinals and Mounties competed in some back-and-forth action. Kills from Vivian O'Brien, Mariana Roman Cruz, and Anna Maria Carella kept the Cardinals close early at 4-4. A series of attack errors from the Mounties brought the set to 13-10 in the Cardinals favor. An attack error by the lead resulted in 13-11. The Cardinals were able to bounce back and bring the game to 14-11. With one point away from winning it all on senior day, the Mounties earned themselves a kill to keep them in it a moment longer. With the score at 14-12, O'Brien was able to bring the Cardinals to a victory with a kill. 

Carella led the Cardinals in that game with an attack percentage of .286. Kate Berra led the team with 19 assists. Alejandra Garcia led the Cardinals with 19 digs and 5 aces.

MATCH TWO: Dickinson 3, Catholic 1 (25-22, 20-25, 27-25, 25-15)

In the second match of the day, the Cardinals took on Dickinson in a competitive matchup. While Catholic never found the lead throughout the match, they were able to stay in the 25-22 match by breaking up streaks by the Red Devils. A service ace from Garcia brought the set to a 6-6 tie early. The Cardinals started to fall behind with 21-13, but found a way to piece together a 4 point streak to bring them back to a competitive zone. A pair of attack errors and a kill from Raab and Caroline Welsh gave way to 21-17. The Red Devils tried to stop the hot streak with a kill from Amelia Kim, but the Cardinals once again collected 4 points (22-21). With a couple of kills and an attack error, Dickinson won the first set 25-22.

Catholic won the second set 25-20 in an attempt to swing the game back in their favor. Once again, the Cardinals fought back-and-forth. Kills from Juliette Cummings, Faughnan, O'Brien, Welsh, and Raab helped keep the Cardinals just ahead of the Red Devils 13-9. A service ace from Garcia helped the spread to 14-9. Dickinson fought back and evened the score at 14 apiece. The Cardinals were able to stay at least one point ahead for the rest of the set while collecting the last three points of the match in a row. 

With the game tied 1-1, both teams were unable to pull ahead in the third set. There were six lead switches in this set. An attack error on Dickinson put the Cardinals in the lead 24-23, but a pair of points in a row kept the Red Devils ahead 25-24. Catholic answered with a kill from Faughnan, but ultimately fell short after a kill from Dickinson and an own attack error. Catholic's highest hitting percentage occurred during this set at .324.

Dickinson handled the last set in a swift fashion with a hitting percentage of .480. A pair of service aces from Dickinson's Avery Butcher put the score at 13-4. While Catholic was able to put together a handful of mini streaks to bring themselves up to 15, Dickinson sealed their fate with a kill from Emily Fishbach resulting in a final score of 25-15 in the fourth and final set.

Up next, Catholic will host its first home solo match of the season against Gettysburg on Wednesday, September 24th at 7 p.m.