SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University volleyball team earned a split to finish 2-1 at the two-day Sea Gull Classic, falling to the Eastern Eagles 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18) but recovering to sweep the Neumann Knights 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-19) on Saturday afternoon at the Maggs Physical Activities Center.

BOX SCORE vs. EASTERN

BOX SCORE vs. NEUMANN

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. EASTERN

• The Knights opened the game on a 4-1 push, capped off by an ace from Bridgette Kelly. The Sea Gulls rallied to get back within 6-4 on a kill by Jackie Mitchell, but Eastern held steady and eventually opened up a 14-8 lead on a Logan Martin kill, forcing an SU timeout.
• Salisbury never got closer than four for the rest of the opening set. Up 23-19, EU benefited from a pair of Sea Gull attack errors to ice it at 25-19.
• The teams butted heads early in the second set. With the scored tied at 9-9, the Sea Gulls strung together three points in a row on an attack error, Caitlyn Edman kill and a block from Amanda Chew and Hannah Sullivan. Eastern countered with five straight, though, to go ahead 14-12.
• Back-to-back kills from Chew brought Salisbury even at 14-14, but the Eagles took the next three in a row and eventually went ahead 19-16. From there, the Sea Gulls found their stride, and a block from Mitchell and Jenna Feinauer evened things up at 19-19.
• After a kill from EU's Rachel Curran, SU rattled off five in a row on a Mitchell kill, two attack errors, a Sullivan solo block and a kill from Ella Franks to get to set point. The Eagles hung in there with two in a row, but Sullivan's kill clinched the set for Salisbury at 25-22.
• The Sea Gulls took an early 6-4 lead in set three, but the Eagles buckled down and muscled to a 13-11 lead on a kill from Martin.
• Eastern kept a lead of at least two points for the rest of the third set, surging ahead by as many as five. The Eagles held set point at 24-19 before the Sea Gulls hit on three straight points, including back-to-back team-up blocks from Edman and Feinauer, but a Kelly kill moved the set into EU's column at 25-22.
• With the scored tied at 5-5 early in the fourth set, the Eagles scored four in a row and nine of the next 11, taking a 14-7 lead on an SU ballhandling error.
• The Eagles never led by fewer than six the rest of the way, closing out the fourth on a Mitchell error to take the set and match 25-17.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Amanda Chew led the Sea Gulls up front for the third straight game, amassing 14 kills and adding six digs.
• Jenna Feinauer hammered seven kills and swung at a .429 rate; she also dug out four attacks and teaming up for four block assists.
• Brooke Young served up 22 assists plus seven digs, while Ella Franks added 12 assists with five digs.
• Darian DiMatteo shored up the back line with nine digs, while Jensen Haas and Grace Rail totaled seven digs apiece.

EASTERN GAME NOTES

• Logan Martin hammered home 18 kills and finished one dig shy of a double-double with nine. Rachel Curran slammed 11 kills of her own.
• Elle Jiron-Bujanda finished with a double-double by totaling 47 assists and 11 digs.
• Grace Casagrande dug out 16 shots, while Kelsey Bradshaw added 10.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. NEUMANN

• After giving up the match's first point, Salisbury rebounded for the next five to take a 5-1 lead, with Jenna Feinauer and Amanda Chew combining for three kills and a block. That initial push set the tone as the Sea Gulls led by at least four points through the rest of the set.
• Nursing a 12-7 lead, Caitlyn Edman powered a kill that launched a 4-0 SU run, making it 16-7 and forcing a Neumann timeout. The Sea Gulls stayed ahead by nine at 20-11 and went on a 5-1 run to close the set, finishing it off on a Jackie Mitchell kill that made it 25-12.
• The second set began the same way as the first, with the Knights taking the first point but Salisbury answering with the next five, including back-to-back kills from Chew.
• NU eventually closed the gap to 10-9, but the Sea Gulls then managed four in a row, the last two points coming on a Chew kill and Grace Rail ace that made it 14-9. That run ignited a late-set run that saw SU close the second on a 15-4 clip. Another four straight bookended the rally, with Feinauer and Mitchell stuffing the Knights to finish it off at 25-13.
• Salisbury again scored its first five points of the third set all in a row, taking a 5-0 lead off an Edman kill. Up 9-4 later on, Angelina Casserly managed a kill and sparked a four-point push to make it 13-4 Sea Gulls.
• With a 16-6 lead late in the set SU emptied the bench and Neumann kept got it as close as 22-19, but the Sea Gulls locked in to score the final three points in a row. Casserly and Mitchell managed back-to-back kills and Salisbury iced the set and match on an attacking error that made it 25-19.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Amanda Chew led a balanced Sea Gull attack with nine kills, committing no errors and swinging at a .529 percentage. Jenna Feinauer and Jackie Mitchell each fired off seven kills with attack percentages north of .350.
• Caitlyn Edman and Angelina Casserly added four kills apiece, while Chloe Adam came off the bench in the third set for three kills.
• Brooke Young edged out Ella Franks for the team lead in assists, finishing with 13 to Franks' 12. Young also notched nine digs.
• Darian DiMatteo made herself a presence on the back line with 19 digs.
• The Sea Gulls clogged up the middle with eight blocks, including solo stuffs from Mitchell and Hannah Sullivan.

NEUMANN GAME NOTES

• Ariana Pena led all Knight attackers with eight kills. Regan Hickey added six of her own.
• Dani Smith served up 15 assists and dug out eight shots.
• Reagan Walker managed 10 digs, and Bre Hickey added nine of her own.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls will host their fifth straight home match to open the season against Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday night.
• First serve from the Maggs PAC is scheduled for 7 p.m. with pregame coverage on the Sea Gull Sports Network (SGSN) beginning at 6:45 p.m.