By Wesley Evans

BUENA VISTA, Va.—The Southern Virginia University women's volleyball team fell in the Capital Athletic Conference tournament semifinal match to visiting Salisbury University, 3-0 (25-18, 30-28, 25-17), Thursday evening in Buena Vista, Virginia, to bring the 2014 season to a close.

Despite a standing room-only crowd at Knight Sport Arena, the Knights were unable to find a groove against the tournament's sixth-seeded Sea Gulls.

Southern Virginia got off to a quick start in the opening set as it rallied off four straight points to take a 4-0 lead. Salisbury responded quickly as it went on a 4-0 run of its own to tie the score.

The teams traded point for point before Sea Gull libero Michelle Meehan tallied three straight service aces, swinging momentum into Salisbury's favor. The Sea Gulls would not relinquish their advantage as Salisbury earned the set point.

The Knights again jumped out to a quick lead in game two, gaining a 4-1 advantage off kills by Shannon Romito and senior Kaitlyn Eaton. Salisbury again went on a short run to take the lead, and would hold a 20-19 advantage late in the set.

Down 24-22 and after a timeout, Southern Virginia found two big points off a Katie Stouffer attack error and Kaitlyn Tlustek service ace to knot the score at 24 apiece. After a back-and-forth battle by both teams, Salisbury was able to take the set off a Vanessa Pawlak attack error and kill by Shannon Russell, increasing its lead to 2-0.

The Knights looked poised to take the third set as it held a 12-11 lead midway through, but a 4-0 run by Salisbury increased its lead to 17-13, proving to be too much as the home team was unable to overcome the deficit.

Eaton led all players on the evening, finding 10 kills on 20 attempts while recording just one error. Tlustek gave Southern Virginia 15 assists to go with two service aces, while libero April Bennett picked up 11 digs to lead the Knights.

Julie Poston led Salisbury with nine kills with Stouffer pitching in eight for the match. The Sea Gulls move on to face Christopher Newport University on Saturday in the CAC Championship match in Newport News, Virginia.

With the loss, Southern Virginia finishes its season with a 21-9 (.700) overall record and 7-2 league mark.