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Kiley McTaggart & Gwen Eustace, 10-5-24
FOTOJOE PHOTOGRAPHY INC./Joey Gardner
1
Mary Washington UMW 14-16
3
Winner Salisbury SAL 24-5
Mary Washington UMW
14-16
1
Final
3
Salisbury SAL
24-5
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Mary Washington UMW 13 18 25 18 (1)
Salisbury SAL 25 25 15 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Will DeBoer

Volleyball handles UMW, advances to C2C championship

Sea Gulls one win from back-to-back conference crowns

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The top-seeded Salisbury University volleyball team earned a chance to defend its Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) crown, dispatching the fourth-seeded Mary Washington Eagles 3-1 (25-13, 25-18, 15-25, 25-18) in the C2C Tournament semifinals, hosted by Christopher Newport University, on Friday afternoon at the Freeman Center.
 
With a win the Sea Gulls advance to their fourth consecutive C2C championship match and will play for their second straight title against either second-seeded Christopher Newport or third-seeded UC Santa Cruz on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Newport News.
 
Salisbury blitzed the Eagles right out of the gate, using an early 6-0 run to build a 12-4 advantage in the first set. The six-point burst came as part of a larger 14-2 push that made it 20-6, and three straight kills from Kiley McTaggart and Natalie Uibel put the fixture in the SU column, 25-13.
 
The teams matched each other blow-for-blow through the beginning of the second set, but with SU leading 14-13 a UMW service error opened the door for a 5-1 Sea Gull swing that made it 19-14. After the Eagles got two back, Emma Quandt blasted a kill as part of a four-point flourish to get it to 23-16, and Julie Altieri finished the job moments later, 25-18, with the clinching kill.
 
UMW regrouped and caught fire late in the third set, flipping a 14-13 deficit on its head with a 12-1 set-closing run. A Sea Gull attack error got the Eagles on the board, 25-15.
 
Both teams went on runs in the early portion of the fourth set, but Salisbury made its final run stick, netting five straight to turn a 13-13 deadlock into a 18-13 lead. The teams traded points the rest of the frame, allowing the Sea Gulls to salt it away, 25-18, as McTaggart powered down the winner.
 
 
GAME NOTES
  • Gwen Eustace led all attackers with 14 kills, swinging .464 for the match. She also racked up three blocks (two solo).
  • Kiley McTaggart nearly matched Eustace with 13 kills and a .429 attack rate, notching four block assists of her own.
  • Collectively, Eustace and McTaggart – the Sea Gulls' two All-C2C First-Team frontliners – powered down 27 kills against just two errors on 56 swings, good for a .446 hitting percentage.
  • Julie Altieri served up 31 assists with 14 digs, plus five kills, for her 17th double-double this season. With 956 helpers on the year, Altieri is 44 away from just the ninth 1,000-assist season in SU history.
  • Grace Rail ran down 26 digs on the back line and also contributed four assists and two service aces.
  • Natalie Uibel registered 12 digs, while Jackie Mitchell and Kayla Pedersen each added 10 to give SU five players with double-digit digs on the night.
  • Emma Quandt shut it down at the tape to the tune of six blocks (three solo).
  • The Sea Gulls hit .178 as a team with 45 kills, swinging an impressive .395 during a dominant set one.
  • Salisbury has now won six straight matchups against Mary Washington dating back to Sept. 2023, including twice in C2C Tournament play including last season's league championship match.
 
The Sea Gulls are one win away from their 10th conference championship in program history and from automatically clinching a third straight berth in the NCAA Tournament. SU and the winner of the CNU-UCSC match will play on Saturday at 3 p.m., following the conclusion of the C2C third place match at 12 p.m.
 
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming) and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's 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 won a combined 23 team national championships, 24 individual national championships, and 201 conference championships, and have produced 50 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.
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