BALTIMORE, Md. – The Salisbury University volleyball team endured a pair of losses to close out the Hopkins Invitational, falling to the Mount Union Purple Raiders 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-16) and the Scranton Royals 3-1 (25-23, 25-14, 14-25, 25-13) on Saturday at Goldfarb Gymnasium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. MOUNT UNION

• The Purple Raiders netted the first five points of the opening set and raced out to a 15-8 lead before the Sea Gulls stabilized and went on their own five-point run. Natalie Uibel landed a pair of kills in the rally that got SU within 15-13.
• Down 18-16 later in the set, Salisbury managed three in a row, with two Gwen Eustace kills helping the Sea Gulls take a 19-18 lead. From there UMU secured four of the next five points to go back up 22-20 and held off SU to take the first set 25-22.
• The teams each went on big runs early in the second set, with Salisbury rallying from 10-5 down to get it within 10-9. Eustace landed a kill and teamed up with Julie Altieri for a block in the run.
• After each team strung together three points, the Purple Raiders rattled off four in a row and eventually closed it out with the final six points of the set, using a Heaven Bartell kill to secure the 25-15 win.
• The third set began as another back-and-forth affair, with Salisbury taking advantage of a couple UMU attack errors to stay within 10-9.
• From there Mount Union began inching away, putting together a pair of three-point runs and netting the final four in a row, capped by an Alexis Meyer-Darby Leininger block that finished off a 25-16 win and sweep.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Gwen Eustace led the Sea Gull attack with seven kills.
• Julie Altieri put together strong all-around numbers, notching 18 assists while also landing six kills (.357) with five digs and two block assists.
• Kiley McTaggart chipped in six kills, while Emma Quandt added five.
• Grace Rail recorded a team-high 24 digs, plus seven assists. Natalie Uibel dug out eight attacks and added four kills.
• The Sea Gulls swung .038 as a team, landing 33 kills against 28 errors.

MOUNT UNION GAME NOTES

• Darby Leininger put down a team-high 10 kills, plus four digs and three block assists.
• Heaven Bartell landed eight kills and shared the team lead with 14 digs.
• Melissa Hansen registered a double-double with 13 assists and 11 digs, plus two service aces.
• The Purple Raiders notched a .258 team hitting percentage with 40 kills against nine errors.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. SCRANTON

• The teams boxed evenly early in the first set. After the Royals went on a 4-0 run to take a 13-11 lead, the Sea Gulls netted six in a row, capped by a Kayla Pedersen service ace, as part of an 8-1 run to go up 19-14.
• From there Scranton went on its own 8-1 push to regain a 22-20 advantage. After Natalie Uibel knotted things up with a kill to make it 23-23, the Royals managed back-to-back kills from Stephanie Margolies and Erin Keaveney to snag the 25-23 win.
• Scranton went on a 10-1 tear to begin the second set, eventually building leads of 15-2 and 19-5. Salisbury eventually fought off four straight set points but it was too little, too late as the Royals put it away 25-14.
• Down 9-8 early in the third set, the Sea Gulls put together a 9-1 run, using a Jackie Mitchell kill to boost their lead to 17-10.
• Leading 20-13 later on, Salisbury closed the fixture on a 5-1 flourish, riding a Uibel kill and an attack error to a 25-14 triumph.
• Set four featured long runs by both teams, with each side stringing together at least three points three times to bring it to a 12-12 deadlock.
• The Royals locked in from there, though, netting eight in a row and 13 of the final 14 points. Ashley Bolan's ace put the set and the match in the books for Scranton, 25-13.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Kiley McTaggart powered down 10 kills on an impressive .500 swing percentage to lead the Sea Gulls at the net.
• Natalie Uibel came close to a double-double with nine kills and nine digs.
• Jackie Mitchell landed six kills (.556) and dug out 12 Royal attacks.
• Julie Altieri notched 25 assists with two service aces. Brooke Young added seven assists and four digs.
• Kayla Pedersen shared the team lead with 12 digs, plus five assists.
• The Sea Gulls posted a .197 team hitting percentage (42 kills, 19 errors), swinging .414 in their third-set victory.

SCRANTON GAME NOTES

• Stephanie Margolies led the Royals with 18 kills (.400), while Deanna Whelpley landed 15 kills of her own.
• Cammi Quirk registered 22 assists with four digs.
• Maddie Forry paced the Scranton back line with 16 digs, plus seven assists. Camryn Hoffman added 11 digs.
• The Royals swung .244 for the match (48 kills, 18 errors), including a .545 clip in the fourth set.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls will return to Maggs Physical Activities Center to host a tri-match on Saturday, Sept. 30.
• Salisbury will battle Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) rival and 21st-ranked Mary Washington at 11 a.m. and Stevens at 3 p.m., with those teams playing a neutral contest at 1 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.