WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Salisbury University volleyball team rode an undefeated run to a Worthington Classic championship, sweeping the DeSales Bulldogs, 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-18), and downing the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen, 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-12), on Saturday afternoon at Gallaudet Field House.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. DESALES

• Tied 6-6 in the first set, the Bulldogs kicked it into high gear with an 8-1 run to build a 14-7 lead. Soon after the Sea Gulls answered with their own 8-1 run, including six straight points on a rally started by a Jenna Feinauer kill, putting SU up 17-15.
• After DeSales regrouped and edged in front 20-19, Delaney Madsen powered a kill and a service ace that opened a 6-1 set-closing run. Jackie Mitchell's kill salted it away for SU, 25-21.
• The Sea Gulls rode their momentum into the second set, opening up an early 6-0 lead thanks to a Gwen Eustace kill, Blair Pausic ace and four DU errors. Salisbury kept the foot on the gas and built its cushion to 16-6.
• The Bulldogs clawed their way back into the set with six in a row, capped by a Grace Grandinetti ace to get DU within 16-12. From there SU circled the wagons and netted three of the next four, then at the 19-15 mark the Sea Gulls rammed through a 6-1 run to book the fixture, 25-16.
• Feinauer and Mitchell teamed up for a block to begin set three, which opened the floodgates on a 10-0 Salisbury run. Mitchell dealt three aces during the onslaught.
• From there the Sea Gulls kept DU at an arm's length, eventually building their lead as high as 23-10. DeSales then rallied for eight of the next nine, but Pausic set up Amanda Chew for the match-winning kill, and Salisbury came away with a 25-18 set win and sweep.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Amanda Chew and Gwen Eustace tied for the team lead with seven kills apiece. Eustace swung .417 for the match, while Chew also chased down 11 digs and assisted on two blocks.
• Jenna Feinauer powered down six kills (.385) and blocked three attacks (one solo).
• Jackie Mitchell (four) and Delaney Madsen (three) combined for seven of SU's 10 service aces for the match.
• Blair Pausic notched 16 assists, plus eight digs. Brooke Young and Grace Rail each added five assists.
• Rail led the Sea Gull back line with 19 digs.
• Salisbury landed 28 kills on the match and limited DU to a .046 swinging percentage.

DESALES GAME NOTES

• Abby Weise flirted with a double-double, leading the Bulldogs with 10 kills and clocking eight digs.
• Diane Pugay powered nine kills of her own.
• Grace Graninetti served up 20 assists, plus six digs.
• McKenzie Brady chased down a team-high 21 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. LEBANON VALLEY

• The Dutchmen opened the first set on a 4-1 run, but the Sea Gulls rebounded to draw even at 6-6. Trailing 11-10 later on, SU used a kill and service ace from Jackie Mitchell and a pair of errors to surge in front 14-11.
• Lebanon Valley retook a 15-14 lead with four straight, capped by an Ali Whitworth ace, but kills from Jenna Feinauer and Amanda Chew plus an attack error tipped the scales back to Salisbury, 17-15. Then with SU leading 20-19, the Dutchmen rattled off another 4-0 run to seize control at 23-20. The teams traded points until Taylor McInerney landed a set-clinching kill, finishing the job at 25-22.
• Salisbury netted the first four points of the second set on Mitchell and Feinauer kills, an error and another Mitchell ace, but LVC netted six of the next seven to grab a 6-5 advantage.
• Each team went on mini-runs until the Dutchmen held a 15-12 lead, at which point Salisbury used an 8-1 push to take control at 20-16. Chew opened the run with a kill and finished it off with an ace.
• LVC responded with two in a row, but SU locked in and rode a 5-1 run to clinch the second set, 25-19, with Mitchell's kill salting it away.
• The Sea Gulls controlled the third set from the get-go, using an early 7-1 flourish to take a 9-3 lead. The Dutchmen later whittled a 13-7 deficit down to 13-10 on two McInerney kills and a Whitworth ace and kept pace through the 17-14 mark.
• Salisbury netted three of the next four on Dutchmen errors, including a block by Mitchell and Delaney Madsen, to go up 21-15. Then after LVC's own 3-1 push to get back within 22-18, SU closed the deal on two errors and a Chew kill to win the set 25-18.
• With a weekend championship in their sights, the Sea Gulls blitzed their way to a 6-1 lead to open the fourth set. Chew notched two of SU's four kills in the run, while Grace Rail dealt an early ace to set the tone.
• The Dutchmen got as close as 10-7 and later 11-8, but Salisbury netted the next six points as part of an eventual 11-2 run, using another Rail ace to build the lead to 22-10. A pair of McInerney kills proved to be LVC's last gasp, as SU put the set and the match in the books, 25-12, on an Alyssa DeWaal kill, bad set and Madsen strike.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• For the second straight contest Amanda Chew and Gwen Eustace matched each other for the team lead in kills with eight each. Chew also notched 14 digs, three assists and one service ace, while Eustace committed no attacking errors and swung .471 for the match.
• Jenna Feinauer clocked in with seven kills and five blocks (one solo), while Angelina Casserly and Jackie Mitchell each landed five kills. Casserly also contributed three blocks (one solo), and Mitchell dealt two aces.
• Blair Pausic served up 23 assists with six digs, while Brooke Young recorded seven assists, six digs, four kills and three aces.
• Grace Rail chased down a team-high 15 digs, landed three aces and set up three kills.
• Salisbury landed 43 kills against 16 errors (.209) for the match and held Lebanon Valley to a .057 swing percentage. SU's 10 blocks fell one short of matching a season high.
• Rail was recognized as Worthington Classic Most Valuable Player, averaging 19.5 digs, five assists and two aces over four matches.
• Chew was also named to the Worthington Classic All-Tournament Team after posting four-game averages of 12 kills and 13.3 digs.
• Salisbury's seven-game winning streak marks its longest since nabbing eight in a row from Aug. 30 to Sept. 13, 2019.
• At 13-1, the Sea Gulls are off to their best start since winning 13 of 14 to open the 2013 season, which marked SU's most recent appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

LEBANON VALLEY GAME NOTES

• Taylor McInerney took over a third of the Dutchmen's swings for the match, landing 19 kills against 12 errors on 49 attacks. She also chased down 12 digs.
• Julia Rill and Robyn Stepler recorded six kills apiece.
• Ali Whitworth clocked a double-double with 31 assists and 15 digs, plus four service aces.
• Kasey Thomas led the back line with 17 digs.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls now set their sights on a trio of Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) foes in Newport News, Va., next weekend.
• SU will battle UC Santa Cruz on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 1:30 p.m.
• On Sunday, Oct. 2, the Sea Gulls will square off with hosts Christopher Newport at 1:30 p.m. and Mary Washington at 4 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 learn more about the tradition of excellence with Sea Gull Athletics, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.