St. Mary's City, Md. – A balanced attack led to the first Capital Athletic Conference win for the St. Mary's College of Maryland volleyball team Saturday afternoon. The Seahawks (8-6, 1-1 CAC) posted a 3-0 sweep of Penn State Harrisburg (7-9, 0-2 CAC) behind a solid team effort from top to bottom.

Senior middle blocker Mandy Goodspeed (Columbia, Md./Atholton) paced St. Mary's in the match with nine kills while first-year Hannah Krauss (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) and senior outside hitter Autumn Fisher (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) each contributed eight kills. Krauss also added three total blocks (1 BS, 2 BA).

Head coach Jeremy Sands discussed Krauss' play in her third start of the season: "Hannah Krauss led us today and did an awesome job at the net. [She] stepped up and filled in for one of our missing middles and did a fantastic job."

Several Seahawks stepped up defensively as junior libero Carissa Hill (Lanham, Md./Pallotti) recorded 10 digs followed by eight from Fisher and seven from senior setter Grace Chao (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial). Junior Mimi Graf (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) and Chao (10) combined for 23 assists in keeping the offense running smoothly.

St. Mary's jumped out to a 13-2 lead in the first set and never looked back as the Seahawks picked up a 25-16 win. Krauss dominated the first game with five kills and a .500 hitting percentage while Hill tallied seven digs.

The second set went to St. Mary's as a kill by senior Emily Scott (Montgomery Village, Md./Covenant Life) sealed the 25-14 victory, putting a stop to a 6-2 run by Penn State Harrisburg. Three Seahawks collected two kills apiece while Chao served up three aces.

Penn State Harrisburg hung around in the final set as the Lions tied up the score three times, including at 7-7 behind a kill by first-year middle hitter Rachale Hair (Newburg, Pa./Big Spring). St. Mary's used a 9-4 run to stake a 16-11 lead on a service ace by first-year defensive specialist Marissa Dangler (Smithsburg, Md./Smithsburg). Sophomore Deesier Garcia (New York, N.Y.) closed the gap to 17-15 with her second ace of the match before the Seahawks finished out the match with an 8-4 run.

Hair and first-year middle hitter Madison Chace (Paso Robles, Calif./Cedar Cliff) paced the Lions in their second straight loss with five kills each while sophomore setter Casey Stump (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) notched 16 assists and first-year Kari Ammerman (Troy, Pa./Troy Area) totaled 13 digs.

The Seahawks will be back in action on Wednesday, October 7 when St. Mary's travels to Buena Vista, Virginia to take on Southern Virginia University in a CAC match at 7:30 p.m.

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