Courtesy of the Salisbury University Sports Information Office

Box Score

Salisbury, Md. - The No. 20 Salisbury University volleyball team repeated as Capital Athletic Conference champions on Saturday evening as the Sea Gulls knocked off second-seed St. Mary's College of Maryland for the second year in a row, 3-1, in front of a crowd of 350 at the Maggs Center.  The win stretched Salisbury's win streak to an impressive 35-straight matches which ranks ninth all-time in NCAA Division III volleyball history.

Top-seed Salisbury (35-1) claimed its fifth CAC title since joining the conference in 1994.  The Sea Gulls received the conference's automatic bid into the 2008 NCAA Division III volleyball tournament.  The complete field will be announced on Monday, November 10.  SU will be making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

SU faced adversity as the Sea Gulls were in jeopardy of losing the first two sets of a match for the first time since the first match of the season against No. 1 Juniata College.  Salisbury rallied in the second set to suppress St. Mary's momentum and went on to win the match by set scores of 19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-17.

For the second straight match, Salisbury dropped the first set as the Seahawks (27-7) came out firing on offense and put the Sea Gulls on their heels.  The second set began similar to how the first one ended as the Seahawks jumped out to an early 7-2 lead.  Salisbury remained poised as junior middle hitter Nicole Massarelli (11 kills, five service aces) stepped up and provided a huge boost for the Sea Gulls as Massarelli served the Gulls to six straight points, including three aces, to cut the Seahawk lead to 10-9.  Senior outside hitter Stacey Krebs (11 kills, 16 digs, two aces) recorded the final kill on the next point to propel the Sea Gulls to the 25-23 set win which evened the score at 1-1.

Salisbury regrouped in the third set and played well in every facet of the game to cruise to an early 20-11 lead.  St. Mary's rallied back behind a strong service effort from sophomore outside hitter Claire Kodan (Olney, Md./Sherwood), who cut the lead to four (22-18).  Malesick recorded two more kills to wrap up the third set and give SU a 2-1 advantage.

Kodan finished the match with team-highs of 12 kills and nine digs, while junior outside hitter Katie Ewing (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) added 10 kills as St. Mary's ended the 2008 campaign with a 27-7 overall record.

The fourth set was another classic battle between the two top CAC teams at the onset but Krebs stepped up to the service line with SU clinging to a two-point lead, 14-12, and served the Sea Gulls to three straight points.  Junior libero Gabby Long (16 digs, two service aces) served the final four points for the Sea Gulls as they closed out the set and match, 25-17.