Fredericksburg, Va. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland volleyball team put up a hard fight in four sets but came up short to the University of Mary Washington Eagles on Wednesday evening in Capital Athletic Conference action.

"We fought tonight but didn't get the little things done. I have to say Mary Washington played a high efficiency match and we could never get the momentum. Mandy led us at the net but it wasn't enough to gain an edge," said head coach Jeremy Sands.

The first set would be competitive with Seahawks (13-9, 3-3 CAC) and Mary Washington (17-6, 4-2 CAC) going head-to-head. The Seahawks fell short at 30-32 despite 17 kills for the set. Senior middle hitter Mandy Goodspeed (Columbia, Md./Atholton) would take control of the Seahawk offense throughout this match and had a strong showing with 17 kills for the match.

The Eagles, who received votes in this week's AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25, used the first set momentum in the second to finish with a 25-16 win. St. Mary's, however, would battle through and capitalized in the third set with a 25-20 victory.

Junior outside hitter Alli Graf (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) would take Goodspeed's lead and tallied 14 kills to contribute to the team. Assisting the offense was junior Mimi Graf (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) with 34 assists and six kills for St. Mary's.

Junior libero Carissa Hill (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) showcased her defensive guidance, totaling a season-best 33 digs. M. Graf also backed the defense with 17 digs to round out her 10th double-double of the season. The Eagles had a total of 63 digs, in comparison to St. Mary's 83, with junior setter Emma Olson's (Oakton, Va./Oakton) defensive pace who logged 13 digs.

UMW came back in the fourth set, taking over the match and scoring 25-23 to snap its two-match skid.

The Eagles were led by sophomore outside hitter Rachel Hendricks (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) with 18 kills.

The Seahawks will be back in action at home on Saturday, October 24 as they commemorate National Breast Cancer Awareness Month during their annual Dig Pink Rally event as well as honor their seven seniors Autumn Fisher (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown), Jennifer Staab (Baltimore, Md./Institute of Notre Dame), Goodspeed, Grace Chao (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial), Mollie Johnson (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown), Karlee Vaillant (Arnold, Md./Broadneck), and Emily Scott (Montgomery Village, Md./Covenant Life).

On Saturday, St. Mary's will host Wesley College at 1:00 p.m. in conference action before taking on Messiah College at 5:00 p.m. Wesley and Messiah will battle each other at 3:00 p.m.

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