Women’s Volleyball Drops Two of Three In Newmann Invitational -

By Sarah Beretich

Catholic Women’s Volleyball suffered its 5th and 6th losses of the season this weekend at the Neumann Knights Invitational outside Philadelphia, recovering with a win against Widener in the final match. The invitational, which took place on September 20 and 21, brought the team to their current season total of 9-6.

The first loss of the weekend came when the team faced the Messiah Falcons in an unpredictable five-set match. The Cardinals fell two points short in the first set at 25-27 and, despite a temporary recovery for two sets, lost the fifth 15-17 for an overall match score of 2-3.

While the final result was not favorable for Catholic, the team saw several career and season highs in each set. Freshman outside hitter Josephine Morrill had a career-high 19 kills and 23 digs, her ninth time reaching double digit kills in 11 matches this season. Now, at 3.82 kills per set, Morrill leads the team and has been ranked as 5th in the NCAA for freshmen in Division III and 42nd for all classes.

With the initial loss under their belts, the Cardinals pressed forward for their next match of the weekend, this time against Christopher Newport. Here, the team underwent its second loss, with a final score of 0-3.

The Cardinals recovered from their 2-match loss in the third and final game of the Invitational, where they pulled in front of Widener University in all 3 sets. The 3-0 score came as a relief after a rocky first two matches and brought the team’s preseason score to an overall 9-6.

Despite the highs and lows of the weekend, junior outside hitter Brianna Finoli is excited for the season and is hopeful from what she’s seen so far.

“The girls have such an incredible energy and a strong drive to win. The bonds that have been created between the girls on the court has contributed to the successes we have achieved so far this season,” said Finoli, who is hoping for an NCAA tournament bid this season.

The team faced Shenandoah this Wednesday at the DuFour Center, where they never tailed; the Cardinals came out 3-0 against the Hornets, finishing each set with an average score differential of 7 points.

The team plays Christopher Newport later this week and is hoping to redeem itself against the nationally ranked team.

Junior outside hitter Joya Libbus is particularly excited for the match. “We almost took a set off of [Newport] that’s nationally ranked and our energy was uncontrollable,” Libbus said. “We play them again soon and we are all hungry for blood.”

The Women’s Volleyball players hopes to break their last season record of 19-13, where they fell in the Landmark Semifinals against Susquehanna. They return to the court on September 27th-28th for the Worthington Classic at Gallaudet before heading to Scranton on October 5th for their first conference game.