SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University volleyball team closed out the fourth annual Margie Knight Classic in perfect fashion on Saturday afternoon at the Maggs Physical Activities Center, outlasting the Muskingum Fighting Muskies, 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 18-25, 15-11), before rallying past the Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen, 3-1 (18-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-15), to finish the tournament unbeaten.
MATCH ONE
Muskingum bolted out of the gate to control the opening set, scoring 10-of-11 points in one stretch to turn a 4-4 tie into a 14-5 cushion. The Sea Gulls chipped away and twice pulled within two down the stretch, but a Mackenzie Krous kill ultimately sealed it for the Muskies, 25-22.
Salisbury never trailed in the second set, building leads as large as six points at 9-3 and again at 20-14. MU could never get closer than three in crunch time, and the Sea Gulls closed it out with three-of-four on kills from
Sophia Tapia and
Kiley McTaggart, plus an Adelynn Rusek error that knotted the match, 25-19.
The Sea Gulls seized control of the third with back-to-back scoring bursts, first a 4-0 run to open an 11-6 lead, then a stretch of eight points out of 10, punctuated by a McTaggart solo block, to balloon the cushion to 19-10. The Muskies refused to back with four of the next five, but SU sealed the deal with a Tapia kill to close it out 25-16.
Muskingum flipped the script in the fourth, racing out to an 8-1 margin and cruising the rest of the way. The Muskies rode 20 kills at a .386 clip to force a decisive fifth set, 25-18.
Salisbury would not be denied on its home court, however, racing out to an early 8-2 lead that
Elizabeth Gordon reinforced with back-to-back kills. Muskingum whittled it down to three on three occasions, but
Julie Altieri set up Tapia for the final blow to clinch a marathon win for the Gulls, 15-11.
Game Notes
- Kiley McTaggart provided blanket court coverage for the Sea Gulls, notching 16 kills and 19 digs for her second career double-double. She also rose up for five blocks (two solo).
- Sophia Tapia was Salisbury's most efficient hitter, posting 11 kills at a .409 rate to go with a team-high seven blocks (three solo).
- Amanda Meschi contributed her own double-double, the first of her career, with 10 kills and 11 digs.
- Ellie Mitchell chipped in seven kills, while Elizabeth Gordon added six.
- Julie Altieri quarterbacked the Gulls to the tune of 41 assists, notching 17 digs for her second double-double of the season and 51st of her career. Altieri also landed five kills, three blocks, and two service aces.
- Elizabeth Villegas chased down a match-high 23 digs, also chipping in three aces.
- Sophia Blaufuss added 12 digs of her own.
- Salisbury out-hit Muskingum .232 to .176 and won the blocking battle by a commanding 14-4 margin.
- The win marks SU's sixth straight victory in a five-set match dating back to Sept. 26 of last season.
MATCH TWO
The teams battled through a 9-9 tie before the Dutchmen seized control of set one, riding server Brooke Olejniczak through a 7-0 run to open a 15-9 cushion. Salisbury never got closer than four the rest of the way, and Olejniczak's kill closed it out for LVC, 25-18.
The Sea Gulls shook off the rust in the second, trading points early before a 4-0 run that featured two kills and a block from
Kiley McTaggart to a 15-10 lead. LVC eventually regrouped and answered cut it to 21-17 late, but SU closed with four of the final five points, using another McTaggart kill to even the match, 25-18.
Lebanon Valley bounced back and raced ahead 12-4 early in the third set, but the Sea Gulls answered with a stunning 16-2 turnaround. SU first cut it to 12-9, then after securing the serve for
Elizabeth Villegas at 14-12, the Gulls rattled off nine in a row to flip the score in their favor, 20-14. The Dutchmen stopped the bleeding with three of the next four, but SU closed out with the final four points, securing a 25-17 margin on an attack error.
Salisbury kept the train rolling in the fourth, going on an early 7-0 run to build up an 8-1 lead. LVC eventually closed the gap to 15-12, but the Sea Gulls locked in with a match-ending 10-3 string. Tapia again provided the denouement with the kill to book it, 25-15.
GAME NOTES
- Kiley McTaggart capped a monster weekend with 15 kills against just one error at a .341 attack rate, plus five blocks (two solo) and four digs. With 984 career kills, she is just 16 shy of hitting the 1,000-kill plateau in her Sea Gull career.
- Sophia Tapia was once again a wall in the middle, hammering 10 kills at a blistering .474 and stuffing LVC with three block assists.
- Amanda Meschi and Elizabeth Gordon added nine and eight kills, respectively, with the freshman Gordon hitting an impressive .357.
- Julie Altieri ran the show with 40 assists plus eight digs, moving herself within less than a hundred helpers (2,922) of becoming the third player in SU history to amass 3,000 career assists.
- Elizabeth Villegas again paced the back line with a match-high 26 digs – one shy of her SU career high – while adding a pair of service aces.
- Salisbury out-hit the Dutchmen .228 to .068, including .324 in the definitive third set.
- SU closed out a perfect Margie Knight Classic for the third time in fourth years, improving to 11-1 all-time in the tournament's history.
The Sea Gulls hit the road for the first time with a big test at the Tufts Invitational in Medford, Mass. SU will battle second-ranked Trinity (Texas) in an NCAA Tournament rematch on Friday at 12:30 p.m., followed by a showdown with Bowdoin at 7 p.m. Salisbury closes by locking horns with the 13th-ranked Jumbos on Saturday at 1:30 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.
