GALLOWAY, N.J. – The 17th-ranked Salisbury University volleyball team has made it an even dozen consecutive victories to close out the regular season, outlasting the Stockton Ospreys by a razor-thin 3-2 (25-27, 26-24, 27-25, 20-25, 15-12) margin on Friday evening at the Stockton Sports Center.
Down 19-16 late in the tone-setting first set, the Sea Gulls went on a 6-0 run to go up 22-19, which the Ospreys answered with three in a row to tie it at 22-22. Salisbury positioned itself for a set point with a 24-23 lead, but Stockton fought it off and netted four of the final five in the set, using a Jalynn Grant kill to put it away 27-25.
The Sea Gulls faced another tight finish in set two, trailing 23-22 before a
Kiley McTaggart kill and Osprey attack error set them up at 24-23. After ceding the next point to tie,
Julie Altieri fed
Amanda Meschi for a key strike, and another Stockton error allowed the visitors back into the match, 26-24.
The third set again came down to the wire, this time with the Ospreys working it to set point after a Laila Newborn ace got it to 24-23. McTaggart's kill brought the Sea Gulls even and a Stockton error flipped set point to the Gulls, then after an Osprey kill to tie,
Gwen Eustace laid down a kill and Stockton committed another error, salting it away for Salisbury, 27-25.
Determined not to see their own double-digit win streak die, the Ospreys went on a 5-1 push late in set four to build a 16-15 lead into a 21-16 margin. Salisbury never got closer than three the rest of the way, and Olivia Magro's kill clinched the fixture 25-20 and forced the match to go the distance.
The Sea Gulls stormed out of the gate in the fifth set, notching the first four points and building a lead as large as 10-3 after another hammer from Eustace. Undaunted, the Ospreys eventually regrouped and went on a 7-1 run to cut the Salisbury lead to one at 12-11.
Sophia Tapia answered for the Gulls with a key solo block, then after one more Stockton strike, McTaggart and Meschi landed back-to-back kills to put it in the books for Salisbury, 15-12.
GAME NOTES
- Gwen Eustace had a transcendent night at the net, pounding a career-high 23 kills against just one error on 29 swings for a .759 hitting percentage. She also rose up for five blocks (one solo).
- Eustace closes out the regular season as the most efficient attacker across all three NCAA divisions with a swing rate of .509. At the time of this release, nobody else in Division I, II, or III is hitting north of .500, with the next-highest mark sitting 25 points back of Eustace at .484 (Bella Limback, Division II Washburn).
- Kiley McTaggart surpassed 900 kills for her Sea Gull career, finishing with 15 strikes to go along with nine digs and six block assists.
- Alyssa DeWaal went for 11 kills and seven digs, while Amanda Meschi added seven kills.
- Sophia Tapia notched a career-high nine blocks (four solo), tying her for fifth-most in a single match in SU history. Tapia also landed five kills and three aces.
- Julie Altieri registered her third 50-assist match of the season (five career) and 16th double-double (48 career), clocking in with 55 assists and a team-leading 17 digs, plus three service aces. At 962 helpers for the year, Altieri is 38 shy of a second consecutive 1,000-assist season.
- Elizabeth Villegas ran down 13 digs and chipped in with four assists.
- Salisbury hit .261 as a team, out-swinging Stockton .280 to .115 in the pivotal fifth set.
- SU is now 4-2 in five-set matches this season with victories in four straight since Sept. 26.
- Salisbury (11) and Stockton (13) entered the match with a combined winning streak of 24 matches. The Ospreys drew the short end of the stick for the first time since Sept. 30.
- The Sea Gulls close out the regular season with 12 straight wins and a 22-2 mark since Sept. 13.
Salisbury boasts a 27-5 record as its regular season comes to an end. The Sea Gulls now set their sights on a second Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) championship in three years at the 2025 C2C Tournament, set to be held at West Field House in Santa Cruz, Calif., next Friday and Saturday.
While tournament seeding and matchups will be confirmed in the coming days, the Sea Gulls are in line to earn the top seed in the league bracket by
virtue of their most recent NCAA Power Index (NPI) ranking. A No. 1 seed would put SU in line to face the winner of Friday's quarterfinal matchup – currently slated to be No. 4 Mary Washington vs. No. 5 Regent – in the first semifinal on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (1:30 p.m. local).
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.
