ST. MARY’S CITY — St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s volleyball team took the first set from Shenandoah University on Tuesday night, then dropped the next three in a 3-1 nonconference loss that closed the regular season four days before the Seahawks open the United East playoffs at home.
The Hornets won 20-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-20 at the Michael P. O’Brien Athletics and Recreation Center Arena. St. Mary’s falls to 21-6 overall but stays perfect in conference play at 10-0. Shenandoah, of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, improved to 13-11 overall and is 7-5 in the ODAC.
The loss does not affect the Seahawks’ postseason path. They host eighth-seeded Penn State Abington in the United East quarterfinals Saturday, Nov. 7.
How the match turned
St. Mary’s controlled the opener 25-20, but Shenandoah edged a tight second set 26-24 to even the match. The Hornets carried that into a 25-22 third set and closed it out 25-20 in the fourth.
The difference showed at the net and the service line. Shenandoah out-blocked St. Mary’s 11-5 and served 14 aces to the Seahawks’ 10. The teams were nearly even in kills, 47-45, and hitting percentage, .176 to .160.
| Stat | Shenandoah | St. Mary’s |
|---|---|---|
| Kills | 47 | 45 |
| Errors | 25 | 24 |
| Attack attempts | 125 | 131 |
| Hitting percentage | .176 | .160 |
| Assists | 46 | 42 |
| Aces | 14 | 10 |
| Blocks | 11 | 5 |
Seahawk leaders
Junior outside hitter Maya Mauro led St. Mary’s with 11 kills. Junior middle blocker Faith Shockley added seven kills on .353 hitting with two blocks, and sophomore middle blocker Sanaa Porter had six kills and a team-high three blocks. Sophomore Erianna Mendieta added six kills, fifth-year Julia Bobrowski had six kills, nine digs and two aces, and first-year Valen Mosley chipped in five kills.
Senior setter Camilla Galeano ran the offense with 18 assists, and senior Lauren Panageotou added 16. Junior defensive specialist Stella Marrero led the back row with 14 digs and served four aces.
Mauro and Marrero came into the week on a high, after sweeping the United East’s weekly volleyball honors.
Up next
St. Mary’s opens its postseason against Penn State Abington on Saturday, Nov. 7, in the United East quarterfinals at St. Mary’s City. The school had not announced a start time as of Thursday. Check the SMCM Athletics recap and schedule for the time and live stats.
