FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The second-seeded Salisbury University volleyball team closed out its 2026 season with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16) loss to the fourth-seeded Mary Washington Eagles in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Tournament third-place match on Saturday at UMW's Ron Rosner Arena.
The Sea Gulls led 6-3 early in the first set before the Eagles scored 12 of the next 14 points to flip the tally to 15-8. SU got it back within 16-13 as
Sadie Wilkinson topped a four-point string with a kill, but UMW pulled away and closed it out, 25-19, on a Natalie Brown kill.
The Eagles raced out to a 5-1 lead to open set two and led by as many as nine at 19-10. Undaunted, Salisbury clawed its way back to get within 23-21, then after conceding the next point,
Sophia Tapia put the hammer down to fight off a set point, but Kathleen Harbaugh put it away for the home side with the final kill, 25-22.
The third set saw SU erase several early holes as the Sea Gulls rallied back from down 8-3, 14-9, and 19-15. At the latter point, a strike from
Kiley McTaggart jumpstarted a 6-1 string to give Salisbury a 21-20 advantage. Tied at 21-21, 22-22, and 23-23, the Gulls used back-to-back kills from
Isard Bernades and McTaggart to salt it away at 25-23 and extend the match.
Mary Washington set the tone in set four early, scoring four straight to open and never looking back. Up 19-15 later, Harbaugh's kill propelled the Eagles to a 6-1 closing run. Alice Holoubek rose up for a solo block to secure the match and third place in the league, 25-16.
GAME NOTES
- Kiley McTaggart went for a team-leading 13 kills, eight digs, and two service aces in her final match for the Sea Gulls. She finishes her career with 1,194 kills and 3,396 total attacks, good for seventh and eighth in program history, respectively.
- Sophia Tapia powered 10 kills at a .500 clip while adding four solo blocks and two digs. At 252 career stuffs she now ranks 12th on the SU all-time leaderboard.
- Sadie Wilkinson went for eight kills, a career high.
- Julie Altieri dished out 34 assists and chased down nine digs, adding a kill and a service ace. She caps her career ranked third in school history with 3,478 assists and is one of four SU setters with 3,000-plus assists and 1,000-plus digs (1,057).
- Sophia Blaufuss paced the back line with 19 digs, adding two assists and an ace.
- The Eagles outhit Salisbury .320 to .138 and held edges in aces (11-5) and blocks (8-5) on the way to closing out their season with 10 wins in their final 11 matches.
The Sea Gulls finish the 2026 campaign at 15-11, good for their 23rd consecutive winning season since 2003.
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.
