SALISBURY, Md. - Top-seed Salisbury University volleyball team shrugged off a slow start to defeat fourth-seed University of Mary Washington, 3-1, in a Capital Athletic Conference tournament semifinal match on Thursday evening at the Maggs Center. With the win, the Sea Gulls notched their second consecutive trip to the CAC championship game.

In the other semifinal match, second-seed St. Mary's (Md.) College knocked off third-seed Stevenson University, 3-1, to set up a rematch of last year's CAC championship. Salisbury is the defending champ as they defeated the Seahawks last year 3-1. The championship match is set for Saturday although a time has yet to be determined.

Salisbury (34-1), ranked No. 20 nationally, needed four sets to get past Mary Washington (19-11) by the scores of 15-25, 25-12, 25-18 and 25-20. A seven day lay-off seemed to affect the Sea Gulls out of the gate as their passes were off target as the offense struggled. The Eagles took advantage of the early miscues by the Gulls and played well offensively, paced by senior Kelly Hueber (18 kills), to jump out to an early 1-0 lead.

The Sea Gulls regained their composure in the second set and showed what had earned them a nation's best winning streak of 34 straight matches as they dominated the second set and cruised to the 25-12 victory. With the crowd behind them, the Sea Gulls snatched back the early momentum built by the Eagles and closed out the match behind a strong team service performance and outstanding defense.

As a team, Salisbury recorded eight service aces in the match led by senior Stacey Krebs (seven kills, 10 digs) with four. On the defensive side, junior Nicole Massarelli (five kills, two service aces) was a force in the middle as she recorded a season-high six solo blocks and assisted on another.

After a tough start, senior setter Jaime Marzocchi (seven digs) and junior libero Gabby Long (two assists) got back on track to set up the offensive attack. Marzocchi finished the match with 28 assists as she surpassed 1,000 assists for the season. Long recorded a team-high 16 digs. Sophomore Melissa Stansbury also added 13 digs in the win. Junior Rachel Downes (12 digs, one service ace) and sophomore Alexandria Malesick (two solo blocks, one assisted block) paced the offensive attack for the Sea Gulls with nine kills apiece.