ASTON, Pa. – The Salisbury University volleyball team wrapped up its regular season with a split in its final tri-match, dropping a heartbreaker to the Stockton Ospreys 3-2 (27-25, 19-25, 16-25, 25-20, 15-13) before bouncing back to sweep the hosting Neumann Knights 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-15) on Saturday afternoon at the Mirenda Center.
MATCH ONE
The Sea Gulls erased first-set deficits of 6-2 and 20-16 and eventually took a 23-21 lead on a kill by
Emma Quandt. The Ospreys answered with the next three to get to set point; Salisbury fought off set point twice but a Rileigh Wilson kill and Wilson-Jaylah Rolle block clinched the fixture for Stockton, 27-25.
Salisbury answered with a late surge of their own in the second set, building on a 20-19 lead with the final five points in a row.
Kiley McTaggart landed a kill in the rally that featured a trio of Osprey errors, including the point to put it away at 25-19.
The third set was all Sea Gulls, with Salisbury stringing together a pair of 5-1 runs, including one to close out the fame.
Prudence Marco fed McTaggart for the kill to clinch it at 25-16.
The Ospreys punched back in the fourth set and built an 18-12 lead, at which point Salisbury roared back with five straight, including back-to-back
Natalie Uibel service aces, to get within 18-17. Stockton settled in and controlled it for the rest of the way, though, putting together a 7-3 push and forcing a fifth set after an attack error that wrapped it at 25-20.
In set five, Stockton controlled early and pushed a 10-8 lead to 14-8 to set up match point. Undeterred, the Sea Gulls landed five points in a row, with a tandem block from
Gwen Eustace and
Jackie Mitchell bringing Salisbury within 14-13. With no margin for error, the Ospreys finally put the match in the books as Regan Mendick powered down the winning kill, 15-13.
Game Notes
- Julie Altieri recorded her second career triple-double, pushing up 39 assists with 11 digs and 10 kills.
- Gwen Eustace notched her own double-double with 12 kills and 10 blocks (three solo).
- Kiley McTaggart and Emma Quandt racked up 10 kills apiece.
- Natalie Uibel shared the team lead with 16 digs, plus six kills and five service aces.
- Prudence Marco chased down 16 digs with six assists.
- The Sea Gulls swung .177 as a team, including .350 in the third set.
MATCH TWO
Tied 7-7 early in the first set, the Sea Gulls went on a 6-1 run bookended by kills from
Gwen Eustace and
Emma Quandt to make it 13-8. Neumann never got closer than four the rest of the frame, with SU finishing it off on another 6-1 run and finishing off a margin of 25-14 on two straight errors.
Salisbury roared out of the gate in the second set with the first eight in a row as part of a 14-1 run that featured four kills each from
Jackie Mitchell and Eustace. SU built the margin as high as 20-6 and finished the job via a
Julie Altieri strike that made it 25-11.
The Sea Gulls found another groove early in the third set, building a 6-4 lead to 10-4 and then 18-7 on a six-point run. The Knights saved face by shrinking a 23-11 deficit to 23-15, but it was too little, too late, as
Natalie Uibel brought one final hammer down to ice it at 25-15.
Game Notes
- Gwen Eustace blasted 13 kills with no errors on 16 attempts, good for an absurd .813 swing percentage.
- Kiley McTaggart landed eight kills, while Emma Quandt added seven.
- Julie Altieri racked up 34 assists with 10 digs for her 16th double-double on the year.
- Grace Rail chased down 19 digs, while Natalie Uibel registered 15 digs with seven kills.
- The Sea Gulls put up a .380 team swing percentage, its second-highest mark of the year, en route to 45 kills against seven errors.
Salisbury finishes the regular season with a 23-5 record. The Sea Gulls will begin postseason play in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Tournament, beginning on Friday at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. Seeding and semifinal matchups will be finalized in the coming days.
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 23 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, 200 conference championships, and 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.
