Cardinal Newman’s Anna Fuller tries to spike the ball past Heathwood Hall’s Jayden Johnson. Photo by Perry McLeod The Cardinal Newman Cardinals volleyball team defeated the Heathwood Hall Highlanders 3- 0 on Senior Night, Tuesday, October 2, clinching the SCISA Region II-3A title.

Cardinal Newman took the first set 25-6, not allowing the Highlanders a single offensive point. Seniors Caroline Muzekari and Anna Fuller accounted for 16 points on their serves in this set.

Set 2 was close at the beginning. When Muzekari stepped up to serve in the No. 6 position, the score was 10-7 in favor of CN. But Muzekari and Fuller combined to push the lead to 20-9. Jayden Johnson and Brooke Edwards got seven of those points back for Heathwood Hall to trim the deficit to 21-16. The Cardinals were able to put the set away and win 25- 16.

Set 3 saw Heathwood Hall take an early 2- 0 lead on Johnson’s serve and a 6-5 lead when libero Townsend Christian was serving. But after a side out made the score 7-7, Molly Mazoué served six straight points around a Highlander timeout to push the lead to 13-7. Heathwood Hall made things interesting, keeping the gap between two and five points most of the rest of the set. Mazoué shut down the Highlanders on her next service, winning the final four points to give Cardinal Newman a 25-17 victory.

Heathwood Hall’s Brooke Edwards goes for a kill against Cardinal Newman. Photo by Perry McLeod Mazoué finished with six aces and nine kills. Fuller and fellow senior Kate Flowers had nine kills as well, and senior libero Megan Mazoué contributed 15 digs for the Cardinals. For Heathwood Hall, Edwards had five aces, while Johnson had 10 kills, and Christian tallied 18 digs.