SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University volleyball team saw five of its athletes
pick up Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) postseason hardware on Thursday. Defensive specialist
Kayla Pedersen was named the C2C Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while libero
Grace Rail and middle blocker
Gwen Eustace were named to the All-C2C First Team, and setter
Julie Altieri and right-side hitter
Kiley McTaggart made the All-C2C Second Team.
Pedersen, a junior from Hummelstown, Pa., takes home the league's top academic honor by virtue of her 3.95 grade-point average as an Information Systems and Accounting double major on the Business Analytics track. A Dean's List scholar in every semester, she is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma and Omicron Delta Kappa academic honor societies and serves as an ambassador for the Clark Honors College at SU. Pedersen is also the president of the SU Relay for Life.
On the court, Pedersen has emerged as a valuable piece of the Sea Gull back line this season. She has played in 21 of 25 matches, racking up 137 digs (2.28 D/S), 30 assists, and 23 service aces.
Rail, a senior from Seaford, N.Y., becomes a two-time All-C2C First-Teamer after another stellar defensive campaign. She leads the C2C in digs per set (5.28) and ranks second in total digs (454) – boasting top-100 national rankings in both categories – while also putting up 89 assists (1.03 A/S) and a team-high 38 service aces.
Rail was named C2C Defensive Player of the Week three weeks in a row (Oct. 17, 23, 30) and has now won the award six times in her career. She has chased down 20-plus digs 10 times this season and 30-plus digs thrice, including a season-high 33 digs in Salisbury's Oct. 21 win at Mary Washington. Rail surpassed 1,000 career digs on Oct. 14 at Christopher Newport, and in an Oct. 18 match against Trinity Washington, Rail broke the SU single-match record with 13 service aces.
Eustace, a sophomore from Olney, Md., became the Sea Gulls' most dominant force at the net this season, entering postseason play leading the C2C in hitting percentage (.341) and blocks per set (1.07). Eustace has registered 196 total kills (2.23 K/S) and 16 service aces to go along with 94 total blocks (23 solo). She currently slots top-50 in Division III in hitting percentage, blocks, and blocks per set.
Eustace eclipsed 10 kills eight times in the regular season and on nine occasions swung .400 or better. She earned C2C Offensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 23 after powering down 14 kills at a .435 clip in the win at UMW. Eustace's career-high nine blocks in a Sept. 9 match against Bowdoin are tied for the fourth-most in SU single-match history.
Altieri, a freshman from Hillsborough, N.C., emerged as the Sea Gulls' full-rotation setter midway through the campaign and has never looked back. She has put up 547 assists this season, ranking second in the C2C with 6.15 assists per set, plus 70 kills and 25 service aces. Altieri has recorded 10 double-doubles and one triple-double, putting up a career-high 51 assists with 11 digs and 10 kills on Nov. 4 at Catholic.
McTaggart, a freshman from North Wales, Pa., proved a force to be reckoned with at the net from the downbeat. She ranks third on the team with 193 kills (2.10 K/S) at a .221 hitting percentage and also slots third with 57 total blocks (0.62 B/S). McTaggart has landed 10-plus kills seven times, including a career-high 15 to help beat UMW on Sept. 30, and her 10 blocks on Oct. 7 against Washington & Lee are tied for the second-most in SU single-match history.
Thanks to outsized contributions from its quintet of all-conference honorees, Salisbury went 18-7 in the regular season and has earned the No. 3 post in the most recent NCAA Regional rankings.
The Sea Gulls will host the C2C Tournament for the first time as they pursue their first conference title since 2012 and second straight NCAA Tournament berth. Third-seeded SU squares off with second-seeded Christopher Newport in the semifinal round on Friday at 1:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to face either top-seeded Mary Washington, fourth-seeded UC Santa Cruz, or fifth-seeded Pratt in the championship on Saturday at 4 p.m.
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 and men's and women's swimming, and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference for men's lacrosse. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 23 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 196 conference championships, and 45 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.
