SALISBURY, Md. – The Bridgewater Eagles volleyball team takes down the host Salisbury University in a 3-2 battle, before falling to Mary Washington by a 3-0 tally on Saturday at the Sea Gull Classic in Maryland.

Bridgewater won a tight first set by a 26-24 margin, but Salisbury bounced by to take the second game, 25-18. The Eagles claimed the third set 25-17, but Salisbury took a 25-21 win in the fourth game to force a fifth set. Bridgewater earned a hard-fought 16-14 victory to get the win.

The two teams traded points early on in the first set before kills by Katie Long and Maddy Carter allowed the Eagles to earn 10 of the next 12 points to build a 19-12 lead. Salisbury responded with a three point run, but a kill by Long, followed by an Ashley Weik service ace and a Megann Grimes kill allowed Bridgewater to pull ahead, 22-16. Salisbury cut the lead down to three, but a kill by Lindsay Kallam and a Sea Gull attack error handed Bridgewater the 25-23 victory.

In the second set, the teams exchanged points once again, tying the game up a few times before the Sea Gulls took advantage of a few Bridgewater miscues to take a 16-13 lead. A kill by freshman Megan Lookabaugh forced the side out, but Salisbury earned it back, boosting its lead to 22-15. Two Salisbury errors and a Grimes kill cut the lead to 22-18, but the Sea Gulls closed out the set with a kill and an ace, earning the 25-18 win.

A kill from Maddy Carter got Bridgewater the first point of the third frame, but Salisbury responded by rattling off six straight points to build a 6-1 lead. Freshman Carly Casto notched a kill to end the run and gave Bridgewater some momentum as it battled back and cut the lead to 10-9. The Eagles used kills from Carter, Lookabaugh and Abby Mills, owning a 20-14 advantage and forcing a Sea Gull timeout.

Out of the stoppage, the Eagles never let up as they closed out the set with kills from Carter and Casto to take the 25-17 victory.

Salisbury jumped to an early 9-5 lead in the fourth game, but Mills notched an ace and the Eagles took advantage of a number of Sea Gull errors to pull ahead, 11-9. Salisbury responded with a run of its own to take a 15-12 lead, but a Casto kill followed by an ace from Chelsea Owensby and a kill from Grimes tied the game up at 15. The Sea Gulls answered by earning five of the next six points to give them a 22-19 lead. Carter pounded a kill and then assisted Lookabaugh with a block to bring the Eagles within one, 22-21. Salisbury used strong offensive efforts to finish out the set and win by a 25-21 margin, tying the match 2-2.

The teams traded three point runs to open up the fifth set and locked the game at 4, 5, and 6, before Salisbury gained the 8-6 advantage and forcing the court switch. The Sea Gulls used a pair of Bridgewater miscues to build a 10-7 lead, but a kill and ace from Mills and a kill from Carter tied the game at 11-11. Carter, Casto, and Grimes notched kills in the waning points of the set to give the Eagles a 15-14 advantage before a Salisbury attack error handed Bridgewater the hard-fought 16-14 victory.

Grimes paced the way for the Eagles' offense with 12 kills, followed by Carter tallying 10. Kallam dished out a game-high 40 assists on the game, and Mara Hogan chipped in 19 digs.

In the second match of the day against Mary Washington, the Eagles fell in the first set, 25-11 after a slow start. They were unable to bounce back and fell to the Eagles of Mary Washington, 25-19 and 25-17, respectively.

Mary Washington rattled off eight straight points in the first frame, before a Grimes kill put the Eagles on the board, 8-1. Mary Washington built its lead to 12-1, but Long notched a kill and gave Bridgewater its second point of the match. A Weik ace brought the score to 22-11, but the Eagles were unable to capitalize and Mary Washington closed out the match, 25-11.

Bridgewater bounced back in the second set and the teams traded points early on in the set and the Eagles earned an 11-9 advantage after kills from Lookabaugh, Carter and Grimes. Mary Washington battled back and the teams fought for every point as they tied it up numerous times, before Mary Washington gained the upper hand from offensive attacks at a 22-16 tally. A Lookabaugh kill and Hogan service ace cut the lead to 23-19, but Mary Washington earned the 25-19 victory.

The teams traded points early on in the third frame and tied the game at 2 before Mary Washington went on back-to-back runs to gain a 12-4 advantage. Bridgewater were able to use a number of attack errors from Mary Washington to cut the lead to 12-7, but Mary Washington pushed its lead to 21-12. A block by Kristen Trice and Grimes forced the side out and the Eagles used a kill by Rachel Donaldson and a Kallam ace to bring the score to 24-17, but an Emma Murphy kill gave Mary Washington the 25-17 win and 3-0 sweep over Bridgewater.

Long led the attack for Bridgewater with five kills, followed by Grimes with four. Kallam added 18 assists and six digs, while Owensby also chipped in six digs for the game.

The Eagles will be back in action on Friday at home as they take on the Hornets of Shenandoah University for an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) match-up. Start time is set for 7 p.m.