TOWSON, Md.  – The Catholic volleyball team was picked to finish third in the Landmark Conference preseason poll, it was announced today. The Cardinals are coming off back-to-back seasons where they have advanced to the semifinals in the Landmark Conference tournament.

The 2026 season marks a new era for the program as Patti Westenberg takes over as the new head coach after her successful run at Montgomery College most recently. Over her three seasons with the Raptors, Westenberg tallied a 59-19 overall record, culminating in a NJCAA Region 20 championship in 2025. She inherits a team that finished last season 14-15 and was impressive in conference play, going 7-2 to earn the third seed in the conference tournament. Catholic notched a thrilling 3-2 victory over Elizabethtown in the first round of the conference tournament before falling to Scranton in the semifinals.

Despite graduating its lone First Team All-Landmark selection from a season ago, Erin Faughnan, Catholic returns a strong core that has played in a lot of games over the past two seasons. Julia Raab was a Second Team All-Landmark selection last season, after recording a career-high 304 kills, which led the team. Juliette Cummings also returns for the Cardinals after tallying 149 kills and a team-leading 58 blocks which earned her All-Landmark Honorable Mention. Julia Turchiano also had a strong freshman season with 150 kills which was third-most on the team.

The Cardinals also return both of their setters from a season ago in Kate Berra and Anna Maria Carella who totaled 484 and 460 assists respectively. Alejandra Garcia was the libero for Catholic in 2025 and she led the team in digs with 312 while also racking up the most aces with 49.

Juniata came out on top of the preseason poll as the unanimous favorites to win the conference once again, receiving all nine possible first place votes and 81 points in the poll. Scranton came in second with 73 points and the other first place vote and the Cardinals earned 60 points to sit in third place. Susquehanna and Elizabethtown rounded out the top five with 54 and 48 points respectively. 

The season begins for Catholic on Tuesday, September 1 on the road against Hood at 7 pm inside Woodsboro Bank Arena. 
 

Team	2025 Record	Points (1st Place Votes)
1. Juniata	38-6 (9-0 LC)	81 (9)
2. Scranton	21-11 (8-1 LC)	73 (1)
3. Catholic	14-15 (7-2 LC)	60
4. Susquehanna	12-21 (5-4 LC)	54
5. Elizabethtown	18-15 (3-6 LC)	48
6. Moravian	14-14 (5-4 LC)	47
7. Drew	9-22 (3-6 LC)	34
8. Lycoming	13-13 (2-7 LC)	24
9. Goucher	10-19 (1-8 LC)	15
10. Wilkes	15-16 (2-7 LC)	14