St. Mary’s Falls Twice

Haverford, Pa. - The St. Mary's College of Maryland volleyball team (1-4) dropped two heartbreaking matches in the final day of the 24th Annual Haverford College Invitational Saturday, losing in five to both Widener University and Stevens Institute of Technology.

Widener 3, St. Mary's 2 (Box Score)
St. Mary's claimed a 25-19 win in the first set before Widener (3-1) captured the next two sets, 25-11, 25-23.  The Seahawks stopped the Pride's momentum, notching a 25-20 victory in the fourth.  Widener outlasted SMCM, 15-9, in the final set for the match.

Junior outside hitter Claire Kodan (Olney, Md./Sherwood) led St. Mary's in the loss with 16 kills and 12 digs as well as one block assist and one service ace.  Sophomore outside hitter Gena Hlavinka (Gaithersburg, Md./T.S. Wootton) joined Kodan in double digit kills with 10 and chipped in three block assists.

Defensively, the Seahawks had five players with double figure digs as freshman libero Cecilia Blanc (Laytonsville, Md./Poolesville) led the way with a season-high 19.  Freshman setter Dani Thorne (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) added 14, while senior outside hitter Sarah Gregorini (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) and junior setter Katie Obal (Olney, Md./Sherwood) each had 11.  Obal also dished out 42 assists.

Stevens 3, St. Mary's 2 (Box Score)
St. Mary's overcame a 12-4 setback and knotted the first set at 20-20 on a kill by Kodan, but Stevens (4-2) held on for the 25-23 victory.  The Seahawks cruised to a 25-17 win in the second set following a 3-0 start.  St. Mary's then rolled to a 25-15 victory in the third with a 12-4 opening run.  Stevens responded in the fourth with a 25-15 win and followed that up with a 15-9 victory in the final set.

Kodan tallied 17 kills and 16 digs along with two service aces to pace the Seahawks.  Hlavinka added 14 kills , one assist, one dig and one block assist, while Gregorini had 11 kills and 14 digs as well as three service aces.

Thorne and Blanc contributed 12 and 10 digs, respectively, while Obal notched 48 assists, nine digs, two service aces, one block solo and one block assist as well as three kills.

The Seahawks will return to action next Saturday, September 12 as St. Mary's travels to Lynchburg, Va. for a quad match hosted by Lynchburg College.  St. Mary's will take on N.C. Wesleyan College at 11:00 a.m., Peace College at 2:00 p.m. and the host at 4:00 p.m.