SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University volleyball team answered a tough 3-2 (26-28, 26-24, 19-25, 25-22, 15-12) defeat at the hands of the Tufts Jumbos with a convincing 3-0 (25-10, 25-23, 25-16) sweep of the Gettysburg Bullets in a Saturday afternoon tri-match at the Maggs Physical Activities Center.
MATCH ONE
In a rematch of Friday night's 3-1 SU victory, the Sea Gulls and Jumbos locked horns for another tight matchup right off the bat. With Salisbury up 24-21 late in the first set, Tufts rallied for three straight to draw even at 24-24, then after fighting off another set point Hazel Nelson landed a kill to give set point to the Jumbos. The Sea Gulls answered with a kill from
Gwen Eustace to tie it at 26-26, then an attack error and a
Julie Altieri strike gave SU the first fixture 28-26.
The Jumbos raced out to an 8-3 lead early in the second set, fighting off SU inroads and reaching the brink with a 24-22 cushion. Back-to-back kills from
Kiley McTaggart knotted things up at 24-24, but an Emma Heckman-Julia Griffiths block and a solo stuff by Griffiths secured the set for the visitors, 26-24.
The teams matched each other step-for-step in set three, but at the 9-9 mark SU seized control with an 8-2 push to go up 17-11. Tufts regrouped and got within 18-16, then after seesawing through the next four points
Sophia Tapia powered one down to spark a 5-1 closing push. Tapia and McTaggart each had two kills in the flurry, with McTaggart salting it away at 25-19.
Set four was another tight one, with Tufts holding a 20-19 lead in the late stages. Claire Castor notched a kill to start a string of three for the Jumbos, who fought off a Sea Gull rally and forced a decisive fifth, 25-22, on a Maiwenn Kamdje kill.
Tufts kept the momentum going in the fifth set, racing out to a 7-3 lead early. The Sea Gulls settled down and cut it to 9-8 on a kill from
Alyssa DeWaal, but the Jumbos answered with three of the next four to go up 12-9. Down 14-10, SU fought off a pair of match points, but Heckman's final tally secured the distance victory for the visitors, 15-12.
Game Notes
- Kiley McTaggart powered down a team-leading 20 kills to go along with eight digs and five blocks (one solo).
- Gwen Eustace registered 15 kills and rose up for five blocks (two solo).
- Alyssa DeWaal and Sophia Tapia both set career highs at 10 kills apiece, with Tapia swinging at a .643 clip.
- Julie Altieri served up 49 assists while also garnering 12 digs, six kills, three blocks (one solo), and two service aces.
- Prudence Marco established a new career high with 25 digs, approaching a double-double with eight assists and landing three aces.
- Elizabeth Villegas chipped in 10 digs with two aces.
- The Sea Gulls swung .256 as a team and won the blocking battle 12-10.
MATCH TWO
The first set was all Sea Gulls as SU raced out to leads of 6-1 and 10-2. The Bullets never could find their footing and Salisbury closed on a 7-2 run, using a block from
Julie Altieri and
Gwen Eustace to cruise to a 25-10 margin.
Gettysburg punched back in set two, riding a seven-point string on the way to a commanding 13-5 lead. Salisbury settled down from there, though, piecing together seven of its own in a row and drawing within 15-14 on a
Kiley McTaggart strike. Down 18-15 later, SU pulled even at 18-18 and danced with the visitors to the finish line. With the Bullets holding a 23-22 lead, McTaggart landed a kill, followed by an attack error and a service ace from
Elizabeth Villegas to complete the comeback win, 25-23.
The Sea Gulls kept their foot on the gas in the third set, building on a 10-8 cushion with 10 of the next 12, with
Maura Fay making it 20-10 on a kill. Gettysburg tried clawing back from there but it was too little, too late. Altieri's solo stuff of Gianna Galli put it in the books for the home side, 25-16.
Game Notes
- Kiley McTaggart capped a strong weekend with her first career double-double, landing 12 kills (.357) to go along with a career-high 10 digs.
- Gwen Eustace powered 10 kills (.381) and corralled four blocks (three solo).
- With 316 career blocks, Eustace vaulted from ninth to seventh on the SU leaderboard over the two matches. She sits five stuffs shy of Brooke Salitrik '98 (321) for sixth in program history.
- Maura Fay chipped in with nine kills.
- Julie Altieri extended her double-double streak to four matches in a row with 30 assists and a team-best 16 digs, plus four kills, three blocks (one solo), and two service aces. Altieri now has 36 double-doubles for her Sea Gull career.
- Altieri moved into sixth in SU history with 1,916 career assists. She sits 84 shy of becoming the sixth Sea Gull setter to ever amass 2,000 assists.
- Prudence Marco chased down 14 digs, while Elizabeth Villegas added 13.
- Salisbury hit .197 as a team in the match, highlighted by a .344 marker in the first set.
After six straight at home, the Sea Gulls will hit the road for the first time this season with a weekend quad in Scranton, Pa. SU will battle Cortland on Friday at 7:30 p.m., followed by Saturday showdowns with hosts Scranton at 11 a.m. and Middlebury at 4 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.
