HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The NCAA volleyball
tournament second round match boasted two teams with a combined
record of 70-2 but the end result did not go the way No. 22
Salisbury University had hoped as its magical season came to an
abrupt end Friday evening. The third-seeded Sea Gulls lost in
straight sets 22-25, 16-25, 19-25 at the hands of No. 23
Eastern University, the second-seed, here in the Juniata regional.
The loss snaps the Sea Gulls' 36-match win streak, which ranks
ninth all-time in NCAA history and was the longest current streak
in the nation. Salisbury concludes the best season in school
history with an outstanding 36-2 record. The two blemishes for
the Sea Gulls came against nationally ranked opponents. Salisbury
dropped its first match of the season to No. 1 Juniata
College in straight sets on August 29, ironically in the same
gymnasium as the NCAA loss.
"As time goes by these players will look back and remember how
special this season was. They played so well as a group...16
strong," said SU coach Margie Knight.
Salisbury was never able to get in a rhythm throughout the
entire match as Eastern (35-1) kept the Sea Gulls off balance
through its excellent defensive approach. The Eagles made 66 team
digs led by Nikki Kummerer's 15 digs.
"We ran our offense but their defense was solid, the best we
have seen this season," said Knight. "They were able to get all of
our shots up off the floor."
SU never led in the first set and had brief leads at the start
of the second and third sets. The Sea Gulls found themselves
playing from behind most of the match which did not allow them to
build any sort of momentum.
In the first set, the Sea Gulls struggled early as the Eagles
jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. Salisbury regained its form and
battled back to knot the score at 9-9 and 15-15. The teams traded
points until Eastern reeled off four straight points to grab a
19-15 lead. Salisbury mounted a comeback sparked by two kills made
by CAC Player of Year senior Stacey Krebs (seven
kills, 13 digs) but it wasn't enough as SU dropped the first set
22-25.
After the tough first set loss, the sixth time SU lost the
opening set this season, the Sea Gulls never recovered as the
Eagles dominated on offense and defense. As a team, Eastern hit
.289 and limited Salisbury to a .069 hitting percentage which was
the second lowest for the Gulls this season. Top-ranked Juniata
limited Salisbury to a .067 hitting percentage at the start of the
season. Eastern was led by Courtney Reinhold who recorded a
match-high 18 kills (.486 hitting percentage) to go with 10 digs.
Salisbury's school record five All-CAC selections tried their
best to carry the team throughout the match but came
up short. For the match, Krebs led all Sea Gulls in kills with
seven while junior Gabby Long paced the defensive
effort with 16 digs. Fellow first-team selections junior
Rachel Downes (six kills, 10 digs) and senior
Jaime Marzocchi (seven digs) had six and two
kills, respectively. Marzocchi also notched 20 assists in the
match. Second team All-CAC selection Alexandria
Malesick contributed four kills and two blocks. Middle
hitter Nicole Massarelli added five kills and
three blocks in the loss.
The senior class of Krebs, Sabrina Larmer,
Marzocchi and Stephanie Withers were a huge part
of the team's success this season. For the season, Krebs finished
with an even 400 kills to lead the team and was third in digs with
328. Larmer who served as a key reserve off the bench contributed
34 kills and had 24 total blocks. Marzocchi had 1,112 assists, was
third on the team with 41 service aces and had 258 digs. Withers
put together a solid season after missing a few weeks with an
injury as she finished with 101 kills and 25 service aces. Krebs
finishes her career as the all-time leader in program history for
kills (1,734) and attempts (4,717) and fourth in blocks (313).
Marzocchi is third all-time in school history for assists (2,611)
and fourth in digs (1,559).
"Stacey and Jaime were four-year starters for us, who had
immediate impacts. Stephanie and Sabrina transferred in a year
later and added stability to our team," said Knight. "Stacey and
Jaime will go down as two of the best players in our program
history. They are two of the best leaders I have ever coached in my
30 years."
While the season ended with a tough NCAA tournament loss, Knight
and company have a lot to be proud of as the program accomplished a
lot of firsts. The Sea Gulls were ranked for the first time ever by
the American Volleyball Coaches Association and remained ranked for
the final six weeks of the season. SU notched its first-ever NCAA
tournament win, in five tries, with a 3-0 shutout against Richard
Stockton in the first round. The 36 wins and the winning streak are
the best totals by any Sea Gull team. Knight earned her first-ever
AVCA Regional Coach of the Year award to go along with the school
record All-CAC selections.
"This was a great season. We had all kinds of first for
us," said Knight. "I am sad it is over but not sad how it ended."
2008 NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament
Juniata Regional All-Tournament Team
MH Nicole Massarelli (Salisbury)
OPP Aislinn McCloskey (Carnegie Mellon)
OH Courtney Reinhold (Eastern)
S Maria Horning (Eastern)
L Megan Sollenberger (Juniata)
OH Amber Thomas (Juniata)
Most Outstanding Player: MH Erin Albert (Juniata)
