MEDFORD, Mass. – In a razor-thin matchup that has come to define the series in two short years, the Salisbury University volleyball team went beyond the distance to pull off the road upset over the 21st-ranked Tufts Jumbos, 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 25-22, 21-25, 16-14), on Saturday afternoon at Cousens Gym.
The Sea Gulls and Jumbos traded blows from the get-go, tying each other on the scoreboard 14 times. SU eventually pulled ahead late, with a setter kill from
Mattox Adams inching the score to 24-21, and after Tufts answered with two straight, SU escaped on an attack error, 25-23.
Salisbury raced out to a commanding 10-2 lead in the second set and later stretched it to 23-16 behind three
Kiley McTaggart service aces in quick succession. Faced with a set point at 24-17, though, the Jumbos came roaring back to score nine straight, tying the score on a Dylan Whisenant ace and going ahead on a kill from Claire Castor. An SU error moments later flipped the frame to the hosts, 26-24.
Down 7-6 in the third, the Sea Gulls regrouped and ripped off nine of the next 11 to go up 15-9. Tufts steadied up and battled back to within two several times, but McTaggart stuffed Castor to close it out for SU, 25-22.
Tufts seized control early in the fourth set, scoring 11-of-13 to take a commanding 13-4 lead. Salisbury clawed back into it, cutting the deficit to three on four occasions, but Hazel Nelson's kill closed out the set for the Jumbos, 25-21.
Set five saw the Jumbos bolt to an early 6-1 cushion, but the Sea Gulls battled all the way back with eight of the next 11, with
Sophia Tapia and McTaggart notching successive kills to knot it up at 9-9. The two sides matched each other blow-for-blow until Tufts set itself up with a 14-13 lead on a kill from Maiwenn Kamdje.
Facing match point, Salisbury was granted a reprieve as Kamdje misfired, then Adams set up McTaggart for a kill to give SU a match point at 15-14. McTaggart again came up clutch, denying Kamdje one-on-one for the winning solo block and allowing the Gulls to escape with a 16-14 victory.
GAME NOTES
- Kiley McTaggart authored an All-America night, erupting for a career-high 25 kills at a sizzling .400 clip to go with seven digs, four blocks (two solo), and three aces.
- Amanda Meschi notched a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs.
- Kyra Douglass landed nine kills (.300), while Elizabeth Gordon added six (.308).
- Sophia Tapia anchored the front line with a team-high five blocks (three solo) to go with three kills and a service ace.
- Mattox Adams, making her first career start at setter as a true freshman, orchestrated the offense with 46 assists and 13 digs.
- Sophia Blaufuss paced the defense by running down 17 digs, while Elizabeth Villegas added eight.
- The teams posted similar attacking lines, with Tufts edging out SU .210 to .195.
- Salisbury dealt eight aces to the Jumbos' six, while Tufts eked it out 12-10 on the block.
- The win extends the Sea Gulls' streak of five-set match victories to seven in a row, a run dating back to last September.
- Salisbury and Tufts produced another back-and-forth match, the programs' third since their series began with back-to-back fixtures in Salisbury last fall. The Gulls took the opener 3-1 on Sept. 5, while the Jumbos got their revenge 3-2 the next day.
The Sea Gulls hit the road again next weekend for the Batten Quad in Virginia Beach, Va., taking on Benedictine on Friday at 7:30 p.m., then closing out Saturday with a rematch against Benedictine at 1 p.m. and No. 19 Batten (formerly Virginia Wesleyan) at 3 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.
