Cards sweep Hawks

October 15, 2002|by JACK HILL III

The Catonsville women's volleyball team remained unbeaten the Maryland JuCo Conference with a 30-22, 30-20, 30-21 sweep of host Hagerstown Community College Monday night.

"We have very competitive practices and that has really helped us to prepare for the matches," said Catonsville coach Ian Blanchard, whose team improved to 10-0 in conference play (15-5 overall). "I am just glad that we are in good enough condition that we continue to play like a team that is continuing to improve.

"We are starting to spread the ball out to some different players. That is having a good effect on us, because it is making it harder to defend against us."

Blanchard praised the performance of quite a few of his players.

"Bridget Thornton and Dannie Packer did a good job at the net," he said. "Jazziel Granada did a nice job of setting the ball and Staci Paige did a nice job of blocking."

Granada tallied 14 service points, Packer added 11 service points and Kelli Mercier had nine service points for the Cardinals.

Chelsea Jolliffe contributed 21 assists and 10 digs, while Lauren Resh had 20 digs for HCC (14-12, 6-4). Amanda Storms added 14 digs and 11 service points, while Emily Beecher had 14 digs and nine service points for the Hawks.

"We had about 15 unforced errors in each game," HCC coach Beth Domenico said. "Consistency is going to be the key for us in winning the region. The team needs to find a leader on the court and pick up the energy level. Our offense never got started tonight."

Packer served for five straight points to give Catonsville a 6-3 lead during the first game. HCC came from behind as Amanda Storms got four points in a row to give the Hawks a 12-10 lead.

There were a few lead changes after that, but the Hawks trailed only 26-22 late in the game. Mercier then served for four straight points and Thornton got a game-ending kill to seal the match for the Cardinals.

HCC was only behind 10-8 in the second game when Mercier got four more points in a row to extend Catonsville's lead to 14-8, before the Cardinals gradually pulled away.

The Hawks were only trailing 27-21 in the third game when Granada got three points to seal the match for the Cardinals.

"Hagerstown gave us one of the most competitive matches that we have had this year," Blanchard said. "They are a nice team and they have improved since our first meeting against them. I think that it is good to play a competitive team that brings out your best. I think that competitive matches are much more fun."

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