INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The St. Mary’s College of Maryland volleyball team will be making their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship Tournament when they face No. 5 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the First Round Thursday afternoon (Nov. 20) at 2 pm.
St. Mary’s College (17-14) and Wisconsin-Eau Claire (27-4) will be meeting for the first-time ever. The Seahawks learned of their next opponent Monday afternoon (Nov. 17) during the NCAA Division III Selection Show which revealed the 64-team field consisting of 43 automatic qualifiers and 21 at-large bids.
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SMCM received the automatic qualifying berth out of the United East Conference following its 3-2 road win over Penn State Harrisburg in the championship league match (Nov. 15), rallying from two sets down to claim the program’s first-ever conference championship crown. St. Mary’s College is riding a three-match win streak into its matchup with Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Six Seahawks have notched 100 or more kills this season with First Team All-United East selection, sophomore outside hitter Maya Mauro (Severna Park, Md./Spalding) leading the way with 290 kills. The trio of senior captain Arielle Lubeck (Virginia Beach, Va./Bayside) and juniors Camilla Galeano (Germantown, Md./Damascus) and Lauren Panageotou (Baltimore, Md./Mercy) quarterback the offense, combining for 943 assists this season.
Senior captain Julia Bobrowski (California, Md./Leonardtown) has contributed to SMCM’s offensive output with 54 service aces while sophomore defensive specialist Stella Marrero (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Christian Life) is second with 43. Marrero leads the defensive charge with 297 digs while sophomore middle blocker Faith Shockley (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) has put up 46.0 total blocks, including 12 solo blocks.
Wisconsin-Eau Claire picked up an at-large bid after falling 3-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championship match (Nov. 15) to No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Kaitlyn Erickson, the 2025 WIAC Defensive Player of the Year, leads a top defensive unit with 4.24 digs per set while Abby Stanwood, a First Team All-WIAC pick, powers the Blugold offense with 4.25 kills per set and a .275 hitting percentage.
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