In recent years the St. Mary’s College of Maryland volleyball team has gradually climbed the ladder in the United East Conference, rebounding from a tough regular season last fall to eventually win the UEC tournament title, thanks largely to a growing number of Southern Maryland Athletic Conference alums.
Now featuring a roster that includes eight players from various St. Mary’s and Calvert public high schools, the current Seahawks group may not be entirely satisfied with simply attaining another conference crown. Tuesday evening against visiting Mary Baldwin University, St. Mary’s College benefited from the surge in SMAC talent by sweeping the visitors 28-26, 25-17, 25-22 in a non-conference match.
Leonardtown graduates Ellie Matthews, Julia Bobrowski, Gracie Zartman and Elizabeth Childs, along with Huntingtown alums Faith Shockley and Kaleigh Wiseman and Chopticon graduate Alex Williams all got valuable playing time in the Seahawks’ sweep of the Fighting Squirrels on Sept. 3. Patuxent graduate Alayna Sievert, one of the team’s primary setters, is currently sidelined with an injury but offered her moral support from the bench.
“I love being a part of this team,” said freshman Zartman, who actually graduated Leonardtown one year early to pursue her academic and athletic prowess. “We have had such a good bond from the beginning of the season. It’s great to be playing with some of my former teammates at Leonardtown, but it’s just been a lot of fun playing with all of these girls.”
Throughout most of the match there were three SMAC graduates on the floor simultaneously and occasionally that number increased.
In the opener, Bobrowsku and Zartman both enjoyed success with their serves and played at the net. Early service runs from that Leonardtown tandem gave the Seahawks the lead and Bobrowski ended the opener with two service winners, capped by an ace after Matthews had provided the two previous points via kills.
“Being part of this team has been so much fun,” Bobrowski said. “We’ve had so many different groups of girls from different classes and different schools really come together. I love having several of my former Leonardtown teammates here and we have girls from other SMAC schools that were really good. We definitely played with a lot of confidence tonight.”
Service runs from Bobrowski, Stella Marrero and Shockley vaulted the Seahawks to a comfortable 18-9 lead and later service winners and kills from Zartman kept the Fighting Squirrels at bay. A long service run from Zartman in the third set gave the hosts an identical 18-9 lead, but the Fighting Squirrels narrowed the gap to two points three times before a Matthews kill sealed the verdict.
“It’s been a great way to start my college playing experience,” said Shockley, who also played club volleyball with Childs, Wiseman and Zartman as a member of the South River Seahawks. “Everything we do is very team-oriented. I’m glad to be able to play with my South River club teammates. But everyone on the team is really great to play with.”
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