ST. MARY’S CITY — St. Mary’s College of Maryland closed its regular season with a clean sweep, both on the court and in the United East Conference’s weekly awards.
Juniors Maya Mauro and Stella Marrero were named the conference’s Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week on Nov. 2, the league announced, after the Seahawks won both matches to lock up the No. 1 seed for the United East Championship Tournament, according to St. Mary’s College Athletics.
St. Mary’s College beat Penn State Harrisburg 3-1 on Oct. 28 and Penn State Abington 3-1 on Oct. 31. The Seahawks finished undefeated in conference play and enter the postseason at 21-5 overall.
Mauro’s breakout week
Mauro, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter from Severna Park who played at Archbishop Spalding, earned her first weekly honor. She opened the week with season highs of 18 kills and 20 points against Penn State Harrisburg, adding a .214 hitting percentage, four digs and two service aces. She closed the regular season with 14 kills, three digs and an assist at Penn State Abington.
Her week by the numbers:
Player Kills Digs Assists Aces Maya Mauro 32 7 1 2 Stella Marrero — 39 16 4
Mauro ranks fourth in the United East at 3.27 kills per set and seventh at 3.55 points per set. She sits ninth in the league with 245 total kills.
Marrero’s third award
Marrero, a 5-foot-7 defensive specialist from Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, picked up her second Defensive Player of the Week award this season and the third of her career. She also won the honor Oct. 5.
Against Penn State Harrisburg, she dug 25 balls and added eight assists and an ace. At Penn State Abington, she finished with 14 digs, eight assists and three aces. The week came on the heels of a milestone: Marrero passed 1,000 career digs in the Oct. 31 win, according to the college.
She ranks third in the conference with 354 digs and ninth with 3.73 digs per set. Her 41 service aces rank 17th.
Up next
Top-seeded St. Mary’s College hosts No. 8 seed Penn State Abington (12-10) in the United East quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, in a rematch of the regular-season finale.
