SCRANTON, Pa. – The Salisbury University volleyball team wrapped up its third straight weekend quad match by splitting a pair of Saturday matches at the John Long Center, bowing to the hosting Scranton Royals 3-2 (15-25, 25-17, 25-20, 17-25, 15-12) before rebounding to oust the Middlebury Panthers 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-20).
MATCH ONE
The Sea Gulls established a rhythm midway through the first set, building on a 10-9 lead with a 12-3 string to make it 22-12.
Kiley McTaggart wound up for three kills over the run, and
Gwen Eustace locked down a 25-15 set win with a service ace moments later.
The Royals punched back with the first five points of set two, then after falling behind 14-12 Scranton ran off seven in a row to go back up 19-14 and closed on a 5-1 run to draw even at a 25-17 margin. The third set was more of the same, with the Royals netting six straight midway through and four of the last five, taking a one-set lead at 25-20.
Salisbury regrouped and matched the Royals punch-for-punch early in set four. Up 15-13, a service error opened up a five-point Sea Gull run to go up 20-13. Scranton netted two straight but Salisbury countered with a 5-2 swing, forcing a decisive fifth set at 25-17 on a kill from McTaggart.
The two sides danced evenly to open set five, but the Royals flipped a 6-5 deficit into an 11-6 lead with a 6-0 run. The Sea Gulls clawed back and fought off a pair of match points to make it 14-12, but Cammi Quirk wrapped up a massive fixture with a kill to ice it for the home side, 15-12.
Game Notes
- Julie Altieri quarterbacked 35 assists with six digs. With her 24th helper of the match, Altieri became the sixth setter in Sea Gull history to amass 2,000 assists for her career.
- Maura Fay matched her season high with 16 kills at a .333 swing rate. She also set a new personal best with eight digs.
- Gwen Eustace and Kiley McTaggart landed 10 kills apiece.
- Prudence Marco notched 21 digs from the back line, while Elizabeth Villegas added 11.
- Sophia Tapia registered six blocks (two solo).
- Salisbury hit .208 as a team, starting off with a .476 marker in the first set.
MATCH TWO
The two sides seesawed back-and-forth through the first set, with
Sophia Tapia blasting a kill to draw the Sea Gulls even at 19-19. The Panthers flipped the script from there, though, stringing together five straight to get to set point. Tapia singlehandedly kept SU in it with three kills in a row, but Molly Harrison wrapped things up for Middlebury with a kill to make it 25-22.
Salisbury overcame a slow start to set two, posting an 8-1 run that featured five
Gwen Eustace strikes to establish a 9-5 lead. SU controlled the fixtured from there, stringing together a pair of four-point pushes and never letting MC get closer than three the rest of the way. Tapia took things into her own hands again with a clinching kill to finish a 25-17 set and draw the Gulls even.
In the third set, the Panthers turned a 7-6 hole into an 11-7 lead, but the Sea Gulls answered with four to make it 11-11. Trailing 14-12 moments later, Tapia's latest strike ignited a 13-3 surge to close out the set. Tapia and Eustace combined for five kills in the flourish, trading a strike each to book the third at 25-17.
After spotting Middlebury the first three of the fourth set, SU powered down seven in a row, bookended by kills from Tapia and
Kiley McTaggart, to go up 7-3. The teams traded blows from there with the Panthers inching ahead 16-15 late. From there, the Sea Gulls muscled their way to eight of the next 10, with back-to-back hammers from Eustace and Tapia extending the margin to 23-18. Tapia had the final word moments later with a kill, putting the set and match on ice, 25-20.
Game Notes
- Gwen Eustace blasted 22 kills at a .613 clip to tie her career high. She also blocked six attacks with one solo effort.
- Eustace reached 331 career blocks in the afternoon, surpassing Michelle Dugan '99 (326) for fifth in Sea Gull history. She sits 15 shy of Abbey Petrecca '07 (346) for fourth.
- Sophia Tapia powered her own career high with 15 kills against just one error, good for an impressive .667 swing rate.
- Kiley McTaggart found the floor for 11 kills to go along with five digs, five assists, and two service aces.
- Julie Altieri assisted on 43 kills. She also chased down 14 digs for her sixth double-double of the season and 38th for her career, plus five kills.
- Altieri finished the day with 2,054 career assists, 67 back of Jen Bowman '96 (2,121) for fifth on the SU leaderboard.
- Prudence Marco clocked in with 17 digs and five assists.
- Elizabeth Villegas added 12 digs and led SU with three aces.
- The Sea Gulls hit .374 as a team, hitting the .400 mark in both the second (.400) and fourth (.469) sets.
- Salisbury outblocked the Panthers 8-3.
- The victory avenges SU's 3-1 loss to Middlebury in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Sea Gulls and Panthers had only met twice in their histories (2001, '14) before squaring off in back-to-back seasons.
The Sea Gulls will open a busy five-match week with a home bout against St. Mary's (Md.) on Wednesday evening. First serve from the Maggs Physical Activities Center is set for 7 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.
