St. Mary's City, Md. - The Fourth Annual Seahawk Invitational hosted by St. Mary's College of Maryland kicked off Friday afternoon as the Seahawks faced No. 22 Salisbury University in a key Capital Athletic Conference match to determine who would be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming CAC Tournament which begins Tuesday, November 4.  After a long, hard-fought match that lasted just over two hours, No. 22 Salisbury came away with its 29 consecutive victory as well as the top seed in the playoffs.

Salisbury Box Score
The loss locks the No. 2 seed for the Seahawks (21-5, 6-1 CAC) who suffered their first conference loss of the season.  As the top two seeds in the CAC Tournament, Salisbury and St. Mary's have both drawn first-round byes and will host semifinal action on November 6.

The Seahawks captured the first set by a score of 26-24 as the score was tied 11 times and there were eight lead changes.  However, Salisbury (29-1, 7-0 CAC) rallied to capture the next three sets en route to a 3-1 (24-26, 25-20, 25-20, 28-26) victory.  The Sea Gulls had three players notch double digit kills with senior outside hitter Stacey Krebs (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) leading the way with 14 kills, 10 digs and three blocks.

Junior outside hitter Rachel Downes (Salisbury, Md./Salisbury Christian) added 12 kills and 15 digs, while junior libero Gabby Long (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) racked up a match-high 25 digs.  Senior setter Jaime Marzocchi (Harrington Park, N.J./Old Tappan) handed out 36 assists while chipping in five kills.

Senior middle blocker Becca Tursell (Ellicott City, Md./Glenelg) paced the Seahawk offense with 12 kills and five digs, while sophomore outside hitter Claire Kodan (Olney, Md./Sherwood) contributed 11 kills and 12 digs.  Junior outside hitter Sarah Gregorini (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) registered a team-best 18 digs and added seven kills.

St. Mary's 3, Neumann 0 (Box Score)
In their second and final match of the day, the Seahawks swept a scrappy Neumann College (14-13) squad by scores of 25-23, 25-14, 32-30 to end the first day of action with a 1-1 mark.  Tursell continued her strong play with 10 kills and a .450 hitting percentage, while junior outside hitter Katie Ewing (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) picked up 11 kills with only two errors in 30 attempts for a .300 attack percentage.

Kodan recorded 11 digs, while senior libero Jackie Reid (Poolesville, Md./Poolesville) and sophomore outside hitter Katie Obal (Olney, Md./Sherwood) each tallied 10 digs.

For Neumann, senior middle hitter Julia Tarloski (Malvern, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) had a team-best 10 kills, while junior Melissa Haines (Brookhaven, Pa./Sun Valley) notched 15 digs.