BALTIMORE, Md. – The Salisbury University volleyball team put up a fight but ultimately came up short against the eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, falling 3-1 (25-16, 25-14, 17-25, 25-12) to open the Hopkins Invitational on Friday evening at Goldfarb Gymnasium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Blue Jays came out strong to start the opening set, taking seven of the first nine points and eventually building an early 11-5 lead.
• The Sea Gulls answered and got within three at 12-9 on a Julie Altieri service ace and kept the pace to stay within 18-15 and 19-16. JHU then strung together the final six points of the set, clinching a 25-16 margin on back-to-back kills by Simone Adam.
• Johns Hopkins raced out to another early lead in the second set, once again starting on a 7-2 run and pushing the margin as high as 12-5.
• Salisbury rallied to get within 15-11 after Delaney Madsen and Emma Quandt teamed up for a block, but the Blue Jays then rattled off the next six and used an Alice Yu kill to put the frame away, 25-14.
• The Sea Gulls punched back with the first five points of the third set, capped by another ace from Altieri. Back-to-back kills by Quandt and Gwen Eustace soon after built the lead to 9-3.
• The Blue Jays went on a 6-0 run to draw even at 9-9, at which point the teams boxed evenly until SU held a 15-12 lead, at which point the Sea Gulls rattled off five in a row to go up 20-12. A Kiley McTaggart kill and Eustace-Altieri block eventually iced the set for Salisbury, 25-17.
• Johns Hopkins opened the fourth set on an 8-1 push and never led by fewer than five the rest of the way, eventually building a 21-8 lead and riding an Adam kill to salt away the match, 25-12.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Kiley McTaggart put up double-digit kills for the first time in her career, racking up 10 kills (.474) against just one error on 19 swings. McTaggart also added four block assists.
• Bella Rubino landed seven kills, while Jackie Mitchell chipped in five kills with five digs.
• Julie Altieri notched her third double-double of the season with a team-high 24 assists and 10 kills, plus three aces and three block assists.
• Grace Rail chased down a team-high 15 digs, while Kayla Pedersen dug out six attacks.
• The Sea Gulls swung .045 for the match, including a .240 hitting percentage (11 kills, five digs) in a victorious third set.

JOHNS HOPKINS GAME NOTES

• Simrin Carlsen led the Blue Jay attack with 15 kills.
• Simone Adam punched down nine kills, while Chidinma Onukwugha added eight.
• Helena Swaak served up 40 assists, plus 10 digs.
• Roxy Karrer shared the team lead with 10 digs.
• The Blue Jays attacked at a .258 clip, swinging over .300 in each of their three set wins.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls will play their final two matches at the Hopkins Invitational on Saturday.
• Salisbury is slated to face Mount Union at 10 a.m., followed by a showdown against Scranton at 3 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 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.