St. Mary's City, Md. – First-year middle blocker Mandy Goodspeed (Columbia, Md./Atholton) collected 31 kills and nine total blocks (four solo) in leading the St. Mary's College of Maryland volleyball team to a split with Messiah College and Johns Hopkins University Saturday afternoon.  St. Mary's (8-4) handed Messiah (7-6) a 3-1 setback before falling in a five-setter to Johns Hopkins (16-0).

In the match against Messiah, the Seahawks held on for a 28-26 win in the first set before Messiah answered with a 25-17 triumph in the second set.  It was another hard-fought battle for the third set but St. Mary's came out on top with a 27-25 victory.  The Seahawks then cruised to a 25-17 win in the fourth and deciding set after opening up with an 8-0 run.

Senior right-side hitter Shelby Mullennix (California, Md./Leonardtown) was efficient for the Seahawk attack, slamming down 14 kills for a .385 hitting percentage.  Goodspeed joined in the fun with 13 kills and six total blocks (three solo).

Senior setter Dani Thorne (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) registered her third career double-double in the win over Messiah with a career-best 24 assists and season-high 16 digs.  Junior libero Bianca Livioco (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) helped out defensively with 16 digs as well.

Messiah was led by 14 kills from senior outside hitter Lauren Rees (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) while sophomore defensive specialist Liz MacNeil (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) contributed 20 digs.

The match versus Johns Hopkins came down to the wire as the Seahawks became just the third team in 16 matches for the Blue Jays to push them to five sets.

St. Mary's came out firing on all cylinders, capturing the first two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-19.  The third set featured 10 tied scores and three lead changes before a kill by first-year right-side Jasmine Warmington (Ontario, Calif./St. Lucy's Priory) broke a 19-19 draw and sparked a 6-1 run to close out the third set en route to a 25-20 Hopkins win.

The Blue Jays cruised to a 25-14 victory in the fourth set to force a fifth and deciding set.  Hopkins controlled the deciding set with a 15-11 win after starting off on a 5-0 run and then extending that lead to 10-3.  Warmington finished with a team-best 17 kills while senior libero Amelia Thomas (Baltimore, Md./Towson) notched a match-high 37 digs.

Goodspeed paced the Seahawks in the match with a match- and season-best 18 kills, a .324 hitting percentage and three total blocks while Mullennix added 13 kills and two block assists.  Thorne finished with another double-double as she recorded 22 assists and 13 digs.  Senior outside hitter Jenn Rindone (Crofton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) led four St. Mary's players in double-digit digs with 19.

The Seahawks will be back in action on Wednesday, September 26 as St. Mary's welcomes Goucher College to the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena for a match at 7:00 pm.

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