Two hours of intense, back-and-forth volleyball eventually came down to who could score three points first.
Moments after the ball fell to the floor for the last time in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) finals, right as the Sea Gulls broke their first of many celebratory hugs to shake hands across the net, senior libero Grace Rail couldn’t keep the tears from flowing over what her team had just accomplished.
Salisbury volleyball had been here so many times. Last season, they came up short at Mary Washington in four sets. The year before, it was against eternal rival Christopher Newport University (CNU) after squandering a pair of match points in the fifth set.
Rail and six of her SU teammates – Ella Skye Franks, Delaney Madsen, Jackie Mitchell, Kayla Pedersen, Natalie Uibel and Brooke Young – had experienced that same heartache twice over in pursuit of their first conference championship since the Margie Knight days in 2012. With the prospect of hosting C2C Tournament in 2023, they knew this time had to be different.
It took some growing pains over a rocky start to get there. The turnaround started on September 30 against Mary Washington at Maggs Center. Trailing two sets to none, the Sea Gulls pulled off a stunning “reverse sweep” to deal the Eagles their first loss of the year. That ignited an 11-2 stretch to close out the regular season. Gwen Eustace emerged as a dominant force in the middle during her sophomore season, and Julie Altieri and Kiley McTaggart broke into the starting rotation as freshmen.
The second weekend in November had arrived.
After dispatching CNU in the semifinals, Salisbury was ready for another bout with Mary Washington for the title. Two hours of intense, back-and-forth volleyball eventually came down to who could score three points first. The Sea Gulls landed the next two, spotted UMW one, and watched as the final Eagle attack sailed high and past the line.
Through glistening eyes, Rail held tight to her teammates and Head Coach Nikki Binetti. Moments later, all it took was the slightest beckon from C2C commissioner Chris Roekle. Rail sprinted to grab the trophy and hoist it high as her teammates spilled forward – finally, finally champions.