SALISBURY, Md. – The 21st-ranked Salisbury University volleyball team sent senior leaders Alyssa DeWaal and Gwen Eustace out in style, enjoying straight-sets victories over the Mary Washington Eagles (25-20, 25-11, 25-20) and 13th-ranked Lynchburg Hornets (25-22, 25-22, 25-22) on Saturday afternoon at the Maggs Physical Activities Center.
 
MATCH ONE
Down 9-5 early in set one, the Sea Gulls turned it on with a seven-point string sparked by an Alyssa DeWaal kill to go up 12-9. The Eagles settled in and chased SU to the finish line trailing just 21-19, but a strike from Amanda Meschi jumpstarted a 4-1 closing run, with Gwen Eustace and Kiley McTaggart teaming up for the clinching block, 25-20.
 
Salisbury opened and closed set two with massive runs. Meschi broke a 3-3 tie with a kill to start an 8-0 flourish and make it 11-3. Then, up 16-10 later, Eustace powered one down and McTaggart bookended a 9-1 closing string, putting it away at 25-11.
 
The third set featured another early Sea Gull run, this time a 7-1 push to build a 7-2 cushion. UMW cut it to one on multiple occasions, but SU reinforced a 14-13 lead to 19-13 with five in a row. The Eagles never got closer than three the rest of the way, with back-to-back hammers from Eustace and Meschi finishing the job, 25-20.
 
Game Notes

• Gwen Eustace feasted at the net, landing 14 kills at a .579 swing rate. She also went up for four blocks (one solo), surpassing 400 stuffs for her career and becoming just the third Sea Gull to reach that plateau.
• Amanda Meschi chipped in eight kills with five digs, while Alyssa DeWaal and Kiley McTaggart added seven kills each.
• Julie Altieri clocked in with her 15th double-double of the season (47 career), serving up 32 assists with 10 digs as well as two kills.
• Elizabeth Villegas chased down 15 digs.
• Annabelle Weis dealt four of Salisbury's six service aces.
• SU hit .295 as a team, including .407 in a dominant set two, and held the Eagles to a .011 swing rate.

 
MATCH TWO
Set one set the tone for the whole match with both sides stringing together impressive runs. The Sea Gulls went on a 5-1 push to flip a 6-4 hole to a 9-7 lead, which the Hornets answered with their own 6-2 push to go back up 13-11. The teams stayed in lockstep until the 22-22 mark, at which point a Lynchburg service error opened the door for a Kiley McTaggart kill and Annabelle Weis service ace to wrap it up for the Gulls, 25-22.
 
The beginning of the second set was all Hornets, with the visitors netting six of the first seven points and taking a 18-14 lead late into the fixture. SU punched back with six of the next seven, seizing a 20-19 lead on a tandem block from McTaggart and Sophia Tapia. After Lynchburg even things up at 20-20, Salisbury inched toward the brink with a 4-1 string to make it 24-21, and the Hornets eventually committed a service error to double the Gulls' lead at 25-22.
 
Both teams continued trading haymakers in the third set, with the Hornets clinging to a 19-17 lead late before the Sea Gulls came alive. Amanda Meschi delivered a kill to ignite a 7-0 run, highlighted by a pair of Tapia aces, to push it to match point at 24-19. Lynchburg would not go quietly, netting the next three, but McTaggart put it to bed with a kill and secure Salisbury's third straight 25-22 dub.
 
Game Notes

• Kiley McTaggart landed a team-leading 14 kills (.333) to go along with six digs and three block assists. McTaggart established a new career high with 331 kills this season and is now three shy of 900 for her Sea Gull tenure.
• Gwen Eustace powered down nine kills with five blocks (one solo), finishing her historic day with 406 career stuffs. She also surpassed Lindsay Lawson '07 for 12th on the program kills leaderboard, currently sitting at 1,075.
• Alyssa DeWaal blasted six kills at a .429 clip, while Amanda Meschi added six kills of her own.
• Sophia Tapia put up a well-rounded line with four kills, four blocks (two solo), and three service aces.
• Julie Altieri finished one dig shy of another double-double, going for 35 assists and nine digs, plus four kills. With 2,649 career assists, she surpassed Jaime Marzocchi '09 (2,611) for fourth in program history.
• Elizabeth Villegas ran down 12 digs with four assists, while Annabelle Weis added five digs and two aces.
• The Sea Gulls hit .304 as a team, including outslugging the Hornets .429 to .417 in a thrilling third set.
• SU won the battle at the net with 10 blocks against three for Lynchburg.
• With victories in 11 straight matches, Salisbury has gone on a double-digit winning streak in each of the last two seasons. SU took 14 in a row from Sept. 14 to Oct. 26, 2024.
• The Sea Gulls' 26 victories mark their most in one season since going 29-6 in 2013.

 
Salisbury will close out the regular season on the road, taking on Stockton on Friday. First serve from Galloway, N.J. is set for 6 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 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.