SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The 15th-ranked and top-seeded Salisbury University volleyball team saw its 13-match winning streak snapped with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-15) defeat at the hands of the 21st-ranked and second-seeded Christopher Newport Captains in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Tournament championship, hosted by UC Santa Cruz on Saturday afternoon at West Field House.
The Captains controlled the match from the downbeat, building an early 10-8 set one lead with a seven-point string and closing on a 6-1 run. Simara Alexander's kill locked down the opening frame 25-12.
In the second set, CNU put together another seven-point mid-game run, building a 19-9 margin. Trailing 23-12 later, the Sea Gulls captured some momentum with a 7-1 swing, using a pair of
Sophia Tapia service aces and a
Gwen Eustace block to cut it to 24-19, but it was too little, too late as Alyssa Dozier salted it away 25-19 with a kill.
Set three struck a similar tone, with the Captains turning up the pressure midway through with a 7-1 push to grow an 8-7 margin to 15-8. SU would never get closer than five the rest of the way, and a Sea Gull attack error clinched the match and a second straight league title for CNU, 25-15.
GAME NOTES
- Gwen Eustace landed nine kills at a .438 clip, surpassing 400 kills in a season for the first time in her career. She also went up for two blocks (one solo).
- Amanda Meschi notched six kills, while Kiley McTaggart added five.
- Julie Altieri dished out 16 assists and ran down five digs. With her 12th assist of the afternoon, she hit 1,000 helpers for the second straight year to become just the fourth setter in SU history to post multiple thousand-assist seasons.
- Elizabeth Villegas reeled in 12 digs.
- Salisbury hit a season-low .087 as a team while enduring its first three-set sweep of the campaign.
- Eustace and Altieri were each named to the C2C All-Tournament Team for the second consecutive season.
The Sea Gulls will now stand by for a potential at-large bid into the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. The Division III Selection Show will
air on NCAA.com on Monday at 1 p.m.
Entering Saturday's action, Salisbury held a No. 15 ranking
in the NCAA Power Index, which determines tournament bids; the metric will be updated twice more following complete Saturday and Sunday action. In 2024, SU qualified for the Big Dance ranked 18th in the NPI; the lowest-ranked at-large bid into the field slotted 39th (Centre).
Should they qualify, it will mark the first time in program history the Sea Gulls punch their ticket to four straight NCAA Tournaments.
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 206 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.
