VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Salisbury University volleyball team opened the Batten Quad in comfortable fashion, breezing past the Benedictine (Ill.) Eagles in a 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-16) sweep on Friday night at TowneBank Arena.
After spotting the Eagles the first three points of the opening set, the Sea Gulls erupted for six straight points – including a pair of
Amanda Meschi service aces – to seize control for good. SU strung together another five-point run later in the frame and closed on a 6-1 run, riding successive kills from
Sophia Tapia,
Kyra Douglass, and Meschi to a 25-12 dub.
Salisbury wasted little time crafting the sequel in the second, racing out to a 6-1 cushion. BU soon whittled it back to a two-point margin, but SU built a 9-7 margin back into 18-9 in short order, later closing with the final five points, wrapping it up 25-16 on an ace from
Sidney Morgan and back-to-back hammers from Douglass and Tapia.
The Sea Gulls made it three straight hot starts in set three, shooting out of the gate with eight of the first nine points and never letting the Eagles get closer than four the rest of the way. Up 22-16 with a chance to close it out, Meschi and
Sierra Lenzen teamed up for a block, then Lenzen landed a kill and a Benedictine attack error put it on ice for the Gulls, 25-16.
GAME NOTES
- Amanda Meschi turned in an efficient all-around night, posting a double-double with 12 kills (.462) and 13 digs to go along with five service aces.
- Sophia Tapia and Kyra Douglass each landed seven kills, swinging efficiently at .417 and .357, respectively.
- Kiley McTaggart chipped in five kills with six digs and three blocks (one solo).
- Mattox Adams quarterbacked the offense to the tune of 27 assists.
- Sophia Blaufuss paced the defense with a match-high 18 digs, while Elizabeth Villegas ran down nine.
- Salisbury hit a season-high .337 as a team and held the Eagles underwater at -.010.
- SU outblocked Benedictine 8-3 and dealt 10 service aces to BU's six.
The Sea Gulls will wrap up the weekend with two Saturday matches, starting with an encore against Benedictine at 1 p.m. and concluding with a showdown against 18th-ranked hosts 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.
