DANBURY, Conn. – After leading the Sea Gulls to their best start in nine years, three Salisbury University volleyball players swept the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Player of the Month awards for September, as revealed by the regional organization on Thursday.
 
Outside hitter Amanda Chew was named South Region Offensive Player of the Month, while libero Grace Rail took home Defensive Player of the Month and middle blocker Gwen Eustace nabbed Rookie of the Month.
 
Chew, a senior from Owings, Md., puts an exclamation point on a September that saw her earn two Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Offensive Player of the Week awards and a spot on the Worthington Invitational All-Tournament Team. In 14 matches, Chew notched 191 kills (3.82 per set) against just 52 errors over 505 total attacks, good for a .275 hitting percentage. On six occasions Chew registered 17 kills or more, including a 20-kill outburst to help the Sea Gulls beat Kean in five sets on Sept. 9.
 
In addition to her offensive prowess, Chew recorded 173 digs (3.46 per set) and clocked in seven kill-dig double-doubles. She also notched 15 assists, 10 block assists and seven service aces, good for 203 total points on the month.
 
Rail, a junior from Seaford, N.Y., seemingly tarped over the entire court on the way to a pair of C2C Defensive Player of the Week nods. In 14 matches she chased down 272 digs (5.55 per set), registering double-digit digs in every contest and posting 19 or more digs on nine occasions. Rail set a then-career high with 32 digs in a five-set victory over Kean on Sept. 9, then on Sept. 23-24 she cleared 20 or more digs in the first three matches of the Gallaudet-hosted Worthington Classic en route to winning tournament MVP honors.
 
Rail filled out a well-rounded September stat line with 71 assists (1.45 per set), 14 service aces and three kills.
 
Eustace, a freshman from Olney, Md., burst onto the scene as a force to be reckoned with in the middle of the net. Over 14 matches she powered down 80 kills (1.57 per set) on a .232 swing percentage. Eustace also rose up for 35 total blocks, including two solo stuffs. Her finest performance came on Sept. 23 in the opener of the Worthington Classic in which she landed a career-high 11 kills (.417), plus four block assists and two service aces.
 
Eustace accumulated 100.5 total points in September, filling out her line with 16 digs, three assists and two aces.
 
Thanks in large part to the Chew-Rail-Eustace triumvirate, Salisbury went 13-1 over the entirety of September, giving the program its finest 14-game start since going 13-1 to open the 2013 season. The Sea Gulls capped that campaign with a 29-6 record and their most recent appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Now 13-4, the Sea Gulls will stay home for their next three games at the Maggs Physical Activities Center. SU returns to action on Thursday, Oct. 13, against C2C rival Christopher Newport. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. with coverage on the Sea Gull Sports Network (SGSN) beginning at 5:45 p.m.
 

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Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football, Coastal Lacrosse Conference for men's lacrosse and the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 189 conference championships and 43 Academic All-Americans.

To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.