SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University volleyball team earned its first Capital Athletic Conference victory of the season on Saturday afternoon, downing Penn State University-Harrisburg 3-0 at Maggs Physical Activities Center.

The Sea Gulls (11-6, 1-1 CAC) were led by Amanda Chew's 13 kills and team-best .480 hitting percentage and her team-high three service aces en route to their ninth sweep of the season.

Salisbury jumped out to a 1-0 lead by claiming a 25-14 win in set one. The Gulls tallied 10 kills to the Lions' (9-9, 1-1 CAC) six while holding the Penn St. attack to just a .037 mark while Salisbury tallied a .222 hitting percentage. Chew tallied all three of her service aces in the opening set, including two in an 8-0 run by the maroon and gold to earn the set one victory.  

The Sea Gulls continued their offensive attack in the second set, posting a .400 hitting percentage and tallying 16 kills. Chew posted a team-best six while Nicole Venturelli recorded five of her nine for the afternoon and posting a hitting percentage of .556. Salisbury never trailed in the set and led by as many as 12 as it claimed the 25-16 victory.

In the decisive third set the Lions took their first lead of the match but were unable to sustain the momentum as each time the maroon and gold rallied back to level the score or take the lead. After an initial back-and-forth, Salisbury used a 5-2 run to build up a 16-13 advantage behind kills from both Gianna Savarese and Carley Cleland.

After Penn St. managed to cut the deficit to just one, 17-16, the Gulls rallied off another scoring run, this time going on an 8-2 run to close out the match. The home team got four kills down the stretch from Chew as well as blocks from both Hannah Sullivan, who finished the night with a team-best four, and Cleland.

Five different players including Sullivan tallied blocks in the contest while Hailey Dougherty tallied a team-high 12 digs to help lead the defensive effort. As a team, Salisbury held the Lions to a .135 hitting percentage and just 27 kills on the afternoon. Rachel Dubbs and Kiana Bopp led the team with 17 and 13 assists, respectively, while Dougherty posted seven of her own.

Salisbury returns to action on Saturday, October 6 when it travels to Swarthmore College. The Sea Gulls are set to take on the Garnet at 2 p.m.