FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The Salisbury University volleyball team closed out the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Invitational with a gritty 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-14, 25-16) win over an impressive UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs side on Saturday afternoon at Ron Rosner Arena.
Trailing 16-10 midway through the opening set, the Sea Gulls caught fire and went on an 11-2 extended run, including seven in a row behind multi-kill outbursts from
Kiley McTaggart and
Elizabeth Gordon, to seize a 21-18 lead. The Banana Slugs rallied to pull into a 22-22 tie, but SU closed with the final three points on a strike from
Ellie Mitchell and a solo block and kill by Gordon to win it 25-22.
UCSC kept the Gulls at an arm's length early in the second set before locking in for five straight to go up 18-10. SU never got closer than five the rest of the way and the Slugs rode a Margo Melgoza kill to knot up the match with a 25-19 dub.
Salisbury flipped the script back in its favor in the third, rattling off five in a row to build an 8-6 cushion to 13-6. UCSC got within 14-10 to stay in the picture until the Sea Gulls powered down 10 of the next 11, highlighted by a pair of aces from Gordon.
Amanda Meschi landed a kill moments later to ice it at 25-14.
Down 5-1 to open the fourth, SU roared to life with another 10-1 run to surge ahead 11-6. After the Slugs cut it to 12-9, Mitchell's strike set off a 9-1 flourish to make it 21-10, and the Sea Gulls finished the job 25-16 on Gordon's third ace of the day.
GAME NOTES
- Elizabeth Gordon turned in a career performance for the Sea Gulls, blasting 13 kills at a staggering .733 attack rate. She also dealt three service aces and went up for two solo blocks.
- Kiley McTaggart racked up a match-high 16 kills to go along with seven digs.
- Ellie Mitchell chipped in nine kills, while Sophia Tapia added seven kills (.429) with two blocks.
- Julie Altieri posted a season-high 46 assists with 11 digs, good for her fifth double-double of the Year (54th career). She also notched five kills at an efficient .500 clip.
- Sophia Blaufuss reeled in a career-high 25 digs while distributing three assists and landing two aces.
- Elizabeth Villegas added 12 digs of her own.
- Salisbury hit .266 as a team, including .300-plus rates in the third and fourth sets, while holding the Banana Slugs to a .186 clip.
- SU's win snapped a seven-match winning streak for UCSC, who had dispatched fellow C2C rivals Christopher Newport in three sets on Friday and outlasted Mary Washington in five sets earlier on Saturday.
The Sea Gulls are back in action next Saturday at the "Battle of the SUs" Tri-Match. Salisbury will lock horns with host Stevenson at 11:30 a.m., followed by Susquehanna at 3:30 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.
