WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The Catholic volleyball team played the fourth game of its seven game home stretch against Lynchburg on Friday evening. The Cardinals were able to capture the second set in the match to tie things up at one, but the Hornets captured the final two sets to come away with a 3-1 win. 

The Cardinals had their highest hit percentage of the match in the first set, hitting .243 with 12 kills which was also a match high. The Hornets also had success on offense in the set however, hitting .341 with 17 kills. Catholic pulled within one in the late stages of the set after kills by Erin Faughnan and Juliette Cummings made the score 18-17. A 6-1 run for Lynchburg set up a set point for them and Kate Hardie finished off the set with a kill to win 25-19 and take a 1-0 lead.

A Julia Raab kill started off a 6-0 run early in the second set for Catholic that helped it get out to a 9-5 advantage. Julia Turchiano picked up a kill to give the Cardinals a 20-16 lead, and with a set point on the line she added another kill to help Catholic take the set 25-21. The Cardinals kept the Hornets in check offensively in the set, holding them to a match-low .053 hitting percentage.

The third set was back-and-forth for a good portion as the teams were all tied up at 15 and a kill from Raab. Lynchburg responded with a 5-0 run to push the lead out to 20-15. Alejandra Garcia recorded an ace and Vivian O'Brien delivered a kill to pull the Cardinals back within four, but a couple mistakes down the stretch gave the Hornets the lead back, 2-1 with a 25-19 set four win.

Lynchburg played its best offensive set of the match in the fourth frame to run away with the set 25-10 to take the match. The Hornets hit .364 while holding the Cardinals to .000 and used a 15-2 run at one point in the set to take control and close out the match. 

Raab once again led the team in kills with 11, reaching double-digit kills for the fifth time this season. Faugnan finished with eight kills while hitting a team-best .222 and Turchiano was behind her with six. Anna Maria Carella was the leader in assists with 17 and Kate Berra added 15. Berra also tallied 10 digs to record her fourth double-double of the season.

Garcia led the team in digs with 15, and Faughnan and Turchiano each added two blocks on the defensive end.

The Cardinals next match will be their first Landmark game of the season when they take on Moravian on Friday, October 3. The match is set to start at 6 pm on Franny Murray Court.