FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The second-seeded Salisbury University volleyball team started hot but was unable to maintain the momentum in the first semifinal of the 2026 Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Tournament, falling to the third-seeded UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-23) on Friday afternoon at Ron Rosner Arena at the University of Mary Washington.
After spotting the Banana Slugs four of the first five points of set one, the Sea Gulls raced ahead with five in a row, capped by a tandem block from
Amanda Meschi and
Sophia Tapia, to go up 6-4. SU later pushed the margin to 11-6 before Santa Cruz regrouped to get within 18-16. Tapia answered that run with a kill and teamed up with
Kyra Douglass on a block to restore a 20-16 cushion. Leading 23-20 soon after,
Kiley McTaggart landed a kill and Meschi and
Elizabeth Gordon teamed up for a stuff to ice it, 25-20.
Salisbury controlled the second set early, netting the first four points and maintaining an 11-7 margin, before the Slugs blitzed their way to a 7-1 run to take a 14-12 lead. The two sides jousted evenly from there, with SU cutting a 22-19 deficit to 23-22 thanks in part to a solo block and kill from Tapia. UCSC would not be denied, though, as Olivia Phillips landed a kill and then combined with Sydney Janowitz to deny Tapia, putting away a 25-22 dub.
The third set saw both teams go on extended runs, including a late four-point push that saw the Gulls roll ahead 21-16. The Slugs stopped the bleeding on a kill from Alice Taylor and parlayed that into a 7-2 run to draw even at 23-23. A service error gave Salisbury set point, but Riley Sawyer tied it with a kill, then an attack error and a service ace from Shiraz Benyoucef sealed it for UCSC, 26-24.
After an even start to the fourth, Santa Cruz strung together five in a row, capped by three straight aces from Benyoucef, to power ahead 16-8. The Sea Gulls chipped away with 11 of the next 15, eventually pulling within 20-19 as
Julie Altieri set up Gordon for a kill, but the Slugs punched back with four straight, riding a Phillips ace to 24-19. SU fought off four straight match points, with Altieri landing two aces in the process, to close the gap to 24-23, but Janowitz and Khloe Pavia rose up together to block McTaggart, clinching the match at 25-23 and sending the Banana Slugs to the C2C finals for the first time.
GAME NOTES
- Elizabeth Gordon paced the Sea Gulls with 11 kills at a .435 swing rate while netting four block assists.
- Sophia Tapia pounded nine kills (.467) and posted a season-high nine blocks (five solo), plus three digs.
- Kiley McTaggart added six kills, three blocks, two digs, and a service ace, while Amanda Meschi chipped in five kills with seven digs and three blocks.
- Julie Altieri dished out 17 assists and chased down 11 digs for her 60th career double-double and 11th this season. She also added a pair of aces.
- Beitris Boyreau-Millar handed out 10 assists with four digs.
- Sophia Blaufuss tied Altieri for the team lead with 11 digs and served a career-high five aces, adding four assists.
- The Banana Slugs outhit Salisbury .161 to .146 despite the Gulls winning the ace (12-11) and block (14-13) battles. UCSC held a 56-40 advantage in kills and 75-50 in digs.
- The loss snaps SU's streak of five consecutive trips to the C2C Championship Match. Salisbury last lost before the conference finals in 2019.
The Sea Gulls will play one final game to close out the 2026 slate, battling either top-seeded Christopher Newport or fourth-seeded Mary Washington in the C2C Tournament Third-Place Match on Saturday. First serve from Ron Rosner Arena is slated for 12 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 213 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.
