WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Salisbury University volleyball team posted a pair of sweeps en route to its fifth and sixth straight wins, sweeping the Wilkes Colonels 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-21) and Catholic Cardinals 3-0 (31-29, 25-10, 25-19) on Saturday afternoon at Franny Murray Court.
MATCH ONE
Clinging to an 18-17 lead late in set one, a service error opened the door for a four-point Sea Gull string, which
Julie Altieri topped off with a service ace that made it 22-17. The Colonels answered with four straight of their own, but SU closed with three of the final four points, riding a
Kiley McTaggart kill to a 25-22 decision.
Salisbury put the foot on the gas to start the second set, opening on a 5-1 run and later picking up nine-of-11 to go up 15-5. SU later pushed the margin to 23-11 and spotted Wilkes the next seven, but a
Sophia Tapia kill and a block from Tapia and
Sadie Wilkinson salted it away, 25-18.
In set three, SU met Wilkes points with multiple tallies of their own, building a lead as big as 19-13. The Colonels put together a late surge to cut it to 21-20, but
Kiley McTaggart took over and accounted for three of the Sea Gulls' final four points, first on a run-stopping solo block and with a pair of kills to put the sweep in the books, 25-21.
Game Notes
MATCH TWO
The teams matched each other punch-for-punch in a razor-thin first set. With the Sea Gulls down 23-21 late,
Sophia Tapia punched a kill to spark three in a row and move Salisbury to set point at 24-23. The Cardinals answered with the next two to flip it to their own set point at 25-24, and SU fought off five set points in a row, with a
Sadie Wilkinson strike keeping the Gulls alive at 29-29.
Kiley McTaggart followed with her own kill, and a CUA attack error finally put it to bed for SU, 31-29.
Salisbury rode that wave of momentum into a laugher of a second set. Back-to-back hammers from
Gwen Eustace jumpstarted a 10-1 run to balloon a 4-3 lead into a 14-4 margin. Up 16-7 moments later, the Sea Gulls closed with nine of the frame's final 12, punctuated by a Eustace block to make it 25-10.
The Sea Gulls kept CUA at an arm's length throughout the third set, at one point building a comfortable lead from 14-8 to 19-8 thanks in part to three quick Eustace kills. The Cardinals rallied and closed the gap to 23-18, but Wilkinson landed a kill and two points later Tapia finished the job to put it on ice, 25-19.
Game Notes
- Gwen Eustace posted another ultra-efficient line with 15 kills against one error on 22 attacks, good for a .636 swing rate to boost her national-best season mark to .492. Eustace also rose up for four blocks (two solo).
- With 362 career blocks, Eustace is now one back of Carley Todd '13 (363) for third in Sea Gull history. She is also 69 kills away from 1,000 for her career (931).
- Kiley McTaggart chimed in with nine kills and 11 digs.
- Alyssa DeWaal chipped in seven kills, while Sophia Tapia and Sadie Wilkinson each added six.
- Julie Altieri clocked 36 assists to eclipse 500 for the season (505) and also went for six digs.
- Sophia Blaufuss led the team from the back with a career-high 15 digs.
- Elizabeth Villegas chased down 12 digs with four assists.
- Salisbury hit .257 for the match, swinging .471 in a dominant set two.
- SU won the service ace and blocking lines by identical 7-2 margins.
After playing nine straight matches on the road, the Sea Gulls will return to Salisbury for a key matchup against Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference archrival Christopher Newport. First serve from Maggs PAC is set for 6 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.
