SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 24 Salisbury University volleyball team, hours after being ranked by the American Volleyball Coaches Association for the first time in program history, won an emotional and spirited Capital Athletic Conference match Wednesday on "Dig Pink" night. The Sea Gulls won in straight sets 3-0 over in-state rival Stevenson University before 585 fans, the largest attendance at the Maggs Center this season.

Salisbury (23-1, 5-0 CAC) held off a late rally by Stevenson (20-3, 3-2 CAC) in the first set and cruised the rest of the way to defeat the Mustangs by the set scores of 26-24, 25-13, 25-16. The win extends the Sea Gulls streak to 23 consecutive matches, tops in the nation.

The Sea Gulls and Mustangs join over 500 volleyball teams across the country in the fight against breast cancer with their participation in the Side-Out Foundation's "Dig Pink" rally, which is designed to raise money and awareness for cancer research.

Salisbury opened the first set on a 7-3 run thanks to some solid service play which included two aces. SU built a five-point lead late into the set at 19-13 as the Mustangs committed four hitting errors in a row. After a Stevenson timeout the Mustangs regrouped and made more precise passes and eventually tied the set at 24. After an attack error by the Mustangs, senior Stacey Krebs capped off the 26-24 set win as she found an open space in the Mustang defense to deliver the knockout punch.

The second set mimicked the first as the Sea Gulls jumped out to an early lead, 10-3, backed by six consecutive pin point serves (two aces) from Krebs which kept the Mustang defenders off balance. Salisbury was able to take advantage of the Mustangs inability to get in a rhythm on offense in both the second and third sets and eliminated mistakes from the first set to cruise to the straight set victory.

Krebs finished the match with a team-high 13 kills and is now just three kills shy of 1,600 for her career. She also recorded three service aces, nine digs, a solo block and two assisted blocks in the match. Junior Rachel Downes (three digs) and sophomore Alexandria Malesick (two solo blocks) each contributed seven kills in the win. Junior Gabby Long recorded a team-high 15 digs and senior Jaime Marzocchi (five digs) notched 26 assists.

The maroon and gold will look to add to their nation's best winning streak as they hit the road to partake in the Green Terror Invitational hosted by McDaniel College in Westminster, Md., on Friday, October 10. The Sea Gulls open the tournament with two matches on Friday against Penn State-Behrend College at 6 p.m. followed by a tilt with Gordon College at 8 p.m.

The Side-Out Foundation was established in 2004 to raise money and awareness about cancer through the recreational activity of volleyball. The name underscores the purpose of their organization, "Side-Out." In volleyball, a side-out occurs when one team wins a point while its opponent is serving, thereby regaining serve or control of play. Likewise in the war against cancer, Side-Out supports health care professionals and researchers help women and men with cancer maintain control of their own lives. This is through improved awareness, education, detection, treatment, and cure, thereby enabling them to live life to the fullest.