NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- For the first time since 2006, the 13th-ranked Christopher Newport volleyball team lost a conference match as the Captains fell to Salisbury, 3-1 (25-27, 25-17, 25-20, 25-23), during a Capital Athletic Conference battle on Friday evening at the Freeman Center.
 
Over the past decade, the Captains had won 138 consecutive regular season league matches dating back to 2006. That run ranked as the fifth-longest streak in the history of collegiate volleyball and the third-longest active roll, trailing only Juniata (361 straight) and Wheeling Jesuit (148). Entering Friday, CNU had won 29 consecutive CAC bouts since 2013 after ripping off 109 straight league matches to wrap up their time in the USA South.
 
During the action, Maddie McCann led the Captains with 14 kills, while Katie Piper chipped in with 13. Hannah Miller rounded out the double-digit contributors with 10 blasts to go along with a pair of blocks, and Hope Webb contributed 36 assists. On the back row, Rachel Close secured a match-high 15 digs, while Katie Crofford and Evelyn Harper added 11 and 10, respectively.
 
With the setback, Christopher Newport falls to 16-5 on the season, including 3-1 in league action. Salisbury improves to 14-5 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
 
From the start of the contest, the Sea Gulls looked sharp and bolted out to an 8-3 lead in the first stanza. Staring at the early deficit, CNU battled back. McCann led the resurgence with three kills, including a bullet off a back-row defender that sailed into the stands. Piper and Miller also drilled winners, and Crofford snapped off an ace during an eight-point streak that gave the Captains an 11-8 edge.
 
Refusing to go down quietly, Salisbury responded and evened the score at 16 before Miller smacked a shot off the block and destroyed an overpass with a crushing kill that helped the hosts steal a 19-16 edge following SU's second timeout.
 
Continuing to trade runs, the visitors regrouped and managed to earn set-point at 24-22. Following a kill by Piper, Miller put down another overpass to even things at 24. Later, Miller fired another scorcher to lock the score at 25 before an SU miscue handed the Captains their own set-point. Looking to capitalize, Josie Lucernoni slammed an ace that bounced off a defender and eventually found its way into the net to clinch the first, 27-25.
 
In the second, Salisbury managed to wiggle out to another early lead as the squad nailed down a modest 8-6 advantage. Piecing together another response, the Captains ripped off five straight winners, featuring two kills by McCann and a diving dig by Lucernoni that saved another rally. With that streak, Christopher Newport inched out to an 11-8 lead heading into a Salisbury timeout.
 
Following the break, the Sea Gulls looked reinvigorated and came out firing. The visitors won 12 of the next 15 rallies to grab a 20-14 lead heading into a CNU timeout. Although the Captains won three straight after the break, including a dart by Piper that split a double-block attempt, the push was too little, too late. SU eventually won five straight battles to close out the second, 25-17.
 
Back on even ground, Piper showed off her skills with a bullet and tip on back-to-back rallies in the early going, but Salisbury was unfazed. The squad tore off six straight winners to grab a commanding 12-4 lead. Attempting to respond, Crofford spun an ace off a defender along the near sideline before McCann and Riley Garirson built a wall along the far pin to send back a pair of attacks on the way to a 14-11 deficit.
 
Later, CNU benefited from three straight Salisbury miscues and a rocket ace by Lucernoni to inch within two at 20-18. Unfortunately, that was as close as the Captains would come as Salisbury won five of the last seven points to ice the 25-20 triumph.
 
Trailing by a set, Garrison got off to a hot start in the third with two straight daggers, while Miller rose up for a thunderous solo block to snatch a 5-3 edge. Sadly, the tide quickly turned as the Sea Gulls strung together a pair of sustained runs to flip the script and lock up a 15-9 lead.
 
With their backs planted firmly against the wall, the Captains showed heart and battled back. Garrison was at the center of the resurgence with three kills, while Harper spun an ace. Later, Piper added a kill and came through with a great save off a tough SU attack to keep a rally alive before Tylar McGill dropped in a push shot. Garrison also came back with an ace and added a huge dig of her own with a sprawling play on the back row before Miller and Katelyn Newsome teamed up on a rejection to snatch an 18-16 lead.
 
Still fostering a late advantage, Piper pounded two more kills, and Close came through with a highlight-reel dig with an acrobatic up to save a rally on the way to a 22-20 lead. Unfortunately, Salisbury had more left in the tank and fired right back. Although Miller hit the opposition with a late tip to even the score at 23, the Sea Gulls won five of the last six rallies to ice the match with a 25-23 victory in the fourth.
 
Along with her 10 digs, Harper was also perfect on serve-receive after converting all 10 of her reception attempts. Close also held up against a relentless assault, converting 43 of her 48 attempts. The 48 reception attempts marked a new career-high for the senior libero, far outdistancing the previous standard of 37 set at St. Mary's (Md.) last season.
 
Christopher Newport will have the next week off before returning to the court on October 14 for a 6 p.m. bout against Mary Washington at the Freeman Center.
 
---CNU---