BALTIMORE – The Salisbury University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-20) decision at the hands of the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays in Saturday afternoon's in-state showdown at the Newton White Athletic Center.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair that saw the Sea Gulls net the first three points and the Blue Jays counter with eight of the next 10 to go up 8-5. The two sides danced close together until late when JHU, leading 20-18, strung together five points in a row and closed out a 25-18 dub on an Ivy Swafford kill.
JHU raced out to an early second set lead, going up 13-5 early and building it as high as 20-11. Salisbury answered with an 8-2 push, cutting the deficit to 22-19 on a block by
Ellie Mitchell and
Elizabeth Gordon, but the Jays countered with three-of-four, ending it on a Jocelyn Pye kill for the 25-20 margin.
Set three was another tight one, with the teams tying each other seven times, the latest coming when
Julie Altieri fed
Amanda Meschi for a kill to knot it up at 20-20. Just like in the first set, though, Hopkins racked up the last five points in a row, clinching the sweep at 25-20 as Swafford brought the hammer down.
GAME NOTES
- Kyra Douglass led the Sea Gulls with nine kills at a .318 clip to go along with two block assists.
- Amanda Meschi chipped in eight kills, seven digs, and two block assists.
- Sophia Tapia added five kills and a team-high five block assists.
- Julie Altieri dished out 17 assists and chased down 14 digs for her ninth double-double of the season (58th career), adding three kills and four blocks (one solo).
- Sophia Blaufuss chased down eight digs while adding eight assists and two service aces.
- The Blue Jays outhit Salisbury .229 to .155 overall and dealt 10 aces to SU's two.
- Salisbury outblocked JHU 10-4, eclipsing 10 stuffs for the sixth time on the year.
The Sea Gulls head to Newport News, Va., on Friday, for a rematch with Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) rival Christopher Newport at 6 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, 26 individual national championships, and 211 conference championships, and have produced 54 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.
