ARLINGTON, Va. – The 23rd-ranked Salisbury University volleyball team extended its winning streak to a season-long seven matches by way of a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-21) walloping of the Marymount (Va.) Saints on Wednesday evening at the Converse Family Fieldhouse.
The Saints got off to a hot start by racking up seven of the first eight points, but the Sea Gulls soon settled in and got things even at 9-9. After conceding the next two, Salisbury flipped the switch on a 9-0 run, highlighted by four
Julie Altieri service aces, to go up 18-11. The margin was too much for MU to overcome, and
Amanda Meschi iced it with a kill, 25-18.
SU again hit the gas early in the second set, building on a 5-4 lead with an 8-1 string, capped by a strike from
Sophia Tapia to make it 13-5. The Gulls would eventually open up a lead as large as 13 points, and a Saint attack error clinched the frame for the visitors, 25-14.
Salisbury continued controlling the rhythm to start the third set, netting five of the first six and eventually building a 13-5 cushion. MU chipped away from there, eventually getting as close as three points at 24-21, but
Gwen Eustace put things to bed for good with the kill to win it, 25-21.
GAME NOTES
- Gwen Eustace led a balanced Sea Gull frontline with 10 kills, swinging .500 to boost her Division III-leading attack percentage to .479.
- Kiley McTaggart notched six kills (.400), while Amanda Meschi added six of her own.
- Sophia Tapia, Alyssa DeWaal, Sidney Morgan, and Sierra Lenzen each contributed multiple kills on the day.
- Julie Altieri posted her 14th double-double of the season (46 career) with 20 assists and 11 digs, as well as setting a new career high with five service aces. With her second helper of the night, Altieri became the fifth setter in SU history to surpass 2,500 career assists.
- Jasmine Nelson saw action in the third set and dished out five assists.
- Elizabeth Villegas went low for 15 digs, as well as three aces and two assists.
- Sophia Blaufuss hit double-digit digs on the night with 10, plus two assists and an ace.
- Salisbury hit .155 for the match and limited the Saints to a .019 swing rate.
- With 11 aces, SU finished one shy of matching its season high.
- The Sea Gulls' seven-match winning streak is their longest of the season; SU has now won 13 of its last 14 matches and is 17-2 since Sept. 13.
The Sea Gulls will head to York, Pa., for a Saturday tri-match to close out the month of October. SU will battle Arcadia at 2 p.m. before jousting with hosts York 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 affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming), Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse), State University of New York Athletic Conference (field hockey), and Colonial Women's Golf Conference (women's golf). 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 205 conference championships, and have produced 53 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.
