Buena Vista, Va. – Junior outside hitter Alli Graf (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) lifted the St. Mary's College of Maryland volleyball team to their second consecutive victory Wednesday night. The Seahawks posted their second sweep in a row with a 3-0 win over Southern Virginia University in Capital Athletic Conference action.

"We had a solid all-around performance tonight from the whole team. Alli Graf led us at the net and first-year Marissa Dangler solidified the defense," expressed second-year head coach Jeremy Sands. "The blocking was really strong which allowed us to run an efficient transition offense. Glad we could get a victory on the road against a solid SVU team."

A. Graf was the only Seahawk to tally double-digit kills as she notched a match-best 13 kills and added a match-high 14 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. Junior Mimi Graf (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) and senior setter Grace Chao (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) maintained the efficient offense with a combined total of 28 assists as M. Graf had 16.

At the net, senior middle hitter Karlee Vaillant (Arnold, Md./Broadneck) denied several Southern Virginia attack opportunities with a season-best six total blocks on season-highs of three block solos and three block assists. Vaillant also added eight kills.

Junior libero Carissa Hill (Lanham, Md./Pallotti) complemented A. Graf's defensive play with 12 digs.

In the first set, the Seahawks led by as many as five but never completely shook off Southern Virginia. St. Mary's earned the 25-20 win and the 1-0 lead in the match as Vaillant led the way with four kills and Hill had four digs. The second set went to St. Mary's, 25-19, as the Seahawks battled through 10 tied scores and five lead changes. The Seahawks erased a 16-14 deficit with a 7-0 run to secure the 2-0 match lead.

The final and decisive set went to St. Mary's as a Vaillant kill sealed the 25-16 triumph. The Seahawks never trailed in the third game and their biggest lead was a 22-14 advantage after a kill by M. Graf.

First-year Allison Tiegs (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle) paced the Knights in their fourth straight loss with seven kills while first-year Ofa Moa-Sam Fong (Victorville, Calif./Serrano) registered 14 digs and sophomore setter Valerie Baety (Cherokee, N.C./Swain County) dished 15 assists.

The Seahawks will be back in action this Friday-Saturday, October 9-10 when St. Mary's travels to Aston, Pennsylvania to compete in the Knights' Fall Classic hosted by Neumann University.

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