The defending United East Conference champions opened their title defense with a setback Tuesday, as St. Mary’s College of Maryland volleyball fell in straight sets to Randolph-Macon, 25-20, 25-14, 25-20, at the Michael P. O’Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena.
SMCM kept pace with the Yellow Jackets early in the first set before Randolph-Macon pulled away to take it 25-20. The Seahawks struggled to find offensive rhythm in the second set, falling 25-14 as Randolph-Macon built a 2-0 match lead. SMCM answered with more fight in the third set but couldn’t close the gap, dropping it 25-20 to complete the sweep.
Erianna Mendieta led the Seahawks offensively with a team-high six kills on 27 attacks, adding two solo blocks and two block assists. Sanaa Porter and Julia Bobrowski each contributed three kills, and Maya Mauro added two. Setter Stella Marrero tallied 11 assists, with Lauren Panageotou adding six. Elizabeth Childs paced the defense with 10 digs. Randolph-Macon’s Olivia Leonard led all hitters with 11 kills on a sharp .370 hitting percentage, and Allison Lach added 10 kills, as the Yellow Jackets out-hit SMCM .237 to .022 as a team.
The loss is an uncharacteristic start for a program coming off the best season in its history. SMCM won its first-ever United East Conference championship last November, rallying from
a two-set deficit to beat top-seeded Penn State Harrisburg 3-2 in the title match and clinch the program’s first automatic NCAA Division III Tournament berth. Sanaa Porter, who had three kills in Tuesday’s opener, led that championship win with 12 kills. The Seahawks finished 2025 at 17-14 overall and 9-2 in conference play under head coach Alexis Calloway, the program’s 16th head coach, who took over in 2022 and guided SMCM to its first winning season in eight years before last year’s title run.
St. Mary’s, now 0-1, looks to rebound Saturday, Sept. 5, on the road at Stevenson University.
