St. Mary's City, Md. - St. Mary's College of
Maryland opened up its Fifth Annual Seahawk Invitational with two
wins as the Seahawks notched a 3-2 decision over Bridgewater (Va.)
College and a four-set victory over Catholic University.
St. Mary's 3,
Bridgewater 2 (Box Score)
Junior outside hitter Claire Kodan
(Olney, Md./Sherwood) slammed home a career-high 23 kills in
leading St. Mary's in the five-set triumph over Bridgewater
(10-15). Three other Seahawks joined Kodan
with double-digit kills. Back-to-back kills by
Kodan broke a 3-3 draw in the fifth set and
sparked a 3-0 run, giving SMCM the momentum to cruise to a
six-point margin.
In the first set, both teams went point for point before
Bridgewater closed out the set with a 2-0 spurt to notch a
hard-fought 27-25 victory. St. Mary's responded with a 25-16
win in the next set as the Seahawks broke open the set with a 13-1
run. The Eagles bounced back in the third set, 25-18, after
racing out to a 12-5 lead. The fourth set went to the home
team as a Kodan kill and a BC attacking error
sealed a 25-23 win.
Kodan completed her 18th double-double of the
season with 16 digs while sophomore middle blocker Gena
Hlavinka (Gaithersburg, Md./T.S. Wootton) added 13 kills
and two block solos. Senior middle blocker Jen
Lamar (Collegeville, Pa./Spring-Ford) tallied a dozen
kills while freshman Jenn Rindone (Crofton,
Md./Spalding) contributed 11 kills with six digs.
Junior setter Katie Obal (Olney, Md./Sherwood)
dished out a career-best 60 assists along with 16 digs to notch her
11th double-double while defensively, freshman libero
Cecilia Blanc (Laytonsville, Md./Poolesville)
contributed 16 digs.
St. Mary's 3,
Catholic 1 (Box Score)
Four Seahawks with double-digit kills guided SMC to a 3-1
(25-15, 17-25, 25-14, 25-21) win over Catholic (23-10) as
Kodan picked up another double-double on 15 kills
and 15 digs while Hlavinka added 13 kills.
Lamar had a solid performance for the Seahawks as
well with 12 kills and five block solos while senior outside hitter
Sarah Gregorini (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial)
registered 10 kills and 20 digs.
After taking the first set with three straight Gregorini kills
to close it out, the Cardinals answered back with a 25-17 win in
the second. However, St. Mary's cruised to consecutive set
wins for the match victory.
Obal contributed 44 assists, 14 digs, and two
kills while Blanc denied 23 Cardinal attacks.
The Seahawks will return to the court tomorrow as action
continues at the Seahawk Invitational. St. Mary's will start
with No. 23 Eastern University at 10:00 am followed by Washington
& Lee University at noon.
