SALISBURY, Md.- The Salisbury University volleyball team split its home tri-match on Saturday with a pair of four-setters. The Sea Gulls opened the day with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-17, 15-25, 25-20) win over the William Smith Herons before falling in the final match of the day to the Gettysburg Bullets in four sets (23-25, 26-24, 21-25, 16-25).

HOW IT HAPPENED – WILLIAM SMITH

• Salisbury benefited from poor serve-receive play by William Smith. The Herons committed 10 service errors during the set, including eight of the first 14 points won by the Sea Gulls. After William Smith took a 21-17 lead in the set, Salisbury stormed back and went on an 8-2 run to close out the first set. The run was capped off by a Brooke Young service ace.
• William Smith started the second set on a 4-0 run but Salisbury battled back to tie the set at six with a Delaney Madsen kill followed by a Julie Altieri service ace. The Sea Gulls then got in the groove in the middle of the set with two Jackie Mitchell aces and a Young ace that pushed SU's lead to 15-9.
• Madsen took over to close out the second set for the Sea Gulls. With the score 18-14 in the set, Madsen made a three-point run of her own with three straight kills to make it a 21-14 set score. After a Madsen block, Bella Rubino gave SU the two-set lead with back-to-back kills to win the second set, 25-17.
• The Herons got out to a fast start in the third set and capitalized on seven attack errors by Salisbury. The Herons hit a match-best .318 during the third set to take the 25-15 set win and cut the SU lead to 2-1.
• Salisbury bounced back in a big way in the fourth set. Kylie McTaggart notched four kills in the early goings of the fourth set to help the Sea Gulls take the 14-7 lead in the fourth. After a back-and-forth midway through the set, Salisbury closed out William Smith by scoring on three block assists and a Rubino kill to take the set, 25-20.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES VS. WILLIAM SMITH

• Kylie McTaggart led the Sea Gulls with nine kills on 20 swings to tally a .350 hitting percentage.
• Gwen Eustace and Delaney Madsen each recorded eight kills. Eustace had a game-high six blocks while Madsen chipped in with four blocks.
• Brooke Young and Julie Altieri each dished out 14 assists. Young added four service aces.
• Jackie Mitchell and Grace Rail led the back line with 15 and 14 digs respectively.

WILLIAM SMITH GAME NOTES

• The Herons committed 25 service errors in the match.
• Jaylynn McCarty and Malya Sayre led the Herons with double-digit kills. McCarthy had a game-high 17 kills while Sayre tallied 14 kills.
• Maysie Malinaric had 23 digs to lead the match.

HOW IT HAPPENED – GETTYSBURG

• Gettysburg started the match on a 9-0 run. Salisbury continued to claw back in the first set to tie the match at 19 with an Emma Quandt kill and take the 20-19 lead with a Jackie Mitchell kill. It was a back-and-forth end to the first set with Gettysburg taking the narrow 25-23 win after back-to-back errors by SU.
• Salisbury took the 11-7 lead early in the second set with six GC errors and the run was closed out with a Gwen Eustace kill and a Natalie Uibel service ace. Gettysburg tied the set and gained a 20-18 lead in the frame. After a ball-handling error, Salisbury scored three straight points to tie the match at one.
• After a back-and-forth start to the third set, Salisbury gained a 13-8 lead after a 6-1 run. Gettysburg got back into the set and then closed the third set out on a 7-0 run to regain the lead in the match, 2-1.
• Similar to the first set, Gettysburg started the fourth set with a run to take a 10-2 lead. Salisbury closed the gap to 15-9 after back-to-back Uibel kills. Salisbury struggled to get the attack going in the later stages of the fourth set to allow Gettysburg to take the four-set win.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES VS. GETTYSBURG

• Gwen Eustace led the Sea Gulls with 13 kills and six blocks (one solo, five assists). She recorded a team-high .310 hitting percentage.
• Jackie Mitchell had a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs.
• Brooke Young also notched a double-double with 21 assists and 14 digs. She also dropped in a pair of service aces.
• Natalie Uibel tallied three aces.
• Grace Rail led the defense with a team-best 15 digs.

GETTYSBURG GAME NOTES

• Alycen Radolovic had a match-high 15 kills.
• Mary Huegel blocked eight SU attacks (one solo, seven assists).
• Chelsea O'Leary dug out 25 attacks.

UP NEXT

• Salisbury heads across the bridge to Baltimore to take part in the two-day Johns Hopkins Invitational.
• The tournament begins on Friday, Sept. 22 against Mount Union. The match is scheduled to begin 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, and 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 on social media @SUSeaGulls.

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