Cardinals down McDaniel 3-0 to earn sixth win

WASHINGTON – The CUA volleyball team bounced back with a 3-0 win over McDaniel on Tuesday evening inside DuFour Center Gymnasium as the Cardinals (6-4) put an end to their two-match losing streak.  Game scores were 25-14, 25-23, and 29-27.

“We managed to pull it out tonight.  A win is a win,” CUA head coach Nagy Abdelrazek said afterwards.  “We have a lot of people stepping up for us right now and overall, we’re just looking to improve and to get better before conference play begins.”

He continued, “It is very important for us to have confidence as we continue to move towards the start of the conference season.  It’s much easier to practice after a win.  We’ll practice better because we won; you can always do good things with a win.  That said, you can always improve things following a good loss; you learn what you need to improve and what you need to work on.”

CUA breezed through the first game, by a score of 25-14.  McDaniel made things interesting in the second game however, as the Green Terror jumped out to an early lead on the Cardinals.  CUA battled back and eventually emerged by a 25-23 score.

In the third and final game, the tables were turned, as CUA jumped out to a big early lead, only to see McDaniel battle back and take the lead.  The game was eventually tied at 25 and the teams traded points back and forth before the Cardinals came out on top, 29-27.

Leading the way for CUA on the night was Ines Zanotti with 26 assists and six kills, while Kristen Shoeffling totaled 18 digs and two aces.  Katie Chefalas added eight digs and five kills and Claudia Jean notched 12 kills and one ace.

Megan Himler added five digs and Bridget Kulesh contributed five kills.

For McDaniel, Jackie Hawkins led the team with 22 assists, while Anne McShea and Kristen Nuckles totaled eight kills apiece.

CUA will be back in action with four matches this weekend at Elizabethtown, beginning with a pair on Friday.  First up, the Cardinals will take on host Elizabethtown at 3:30, followed by a matchup with Neumann beginning at 5:30.