FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State volleyball team fought for five sets, but ultimately fell against CAC rival Salisbury, 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 10-15) on Friday Night to kick off this weekend's Frostburg Quad Match.
 
With the result, Frostburg State is locked into the sixth seed in the CAC tournament. The Bobcats will face York (Pa.) on the road in the first round of the CAC playoffs, which will take place on Tuesday, October 30^th.  
 
With Salisbury leading 4-2 in the first set, the Bobcats had their first run of the night, rattling off four-straight points to jump ahead, 6-4. The Sea Gulls answered back, going on a 7-2 run of their own, led by freshman Hannah Sullivan, who collected the final two kills of the stretch to put her team ahead, 9-7. Salisbury held the lead the rest of the way, taking the first set with a final score of 25-21.
 
With the Bobcats trailing 11-8 in the second set, they went on a 7-0 run, which including kills from junior Ashante Corey-Bey and first-year Haley Altemus, as well as an ace from junior Bailey Godlove to jump ahead to a 15-11 advantage. Salisbury would answer, evening the score at 20-all, but FSU would again pull ahead and earn the 25-22 set victory, evening the match at one set apiece.
 
After the Bobcats earned the first point in the third set, the Sea Gulls jumped ahead and never found themselves trailing the rest of the way, taking the set 25-19. The set was highlighted by a 4-0 run for Salisbury, increasing their advantage from three points to seven, giving them an 18-11 lead.
 
The fourth set featured three separate 3-0 runs for the Bobcats, which helped them on their way to the 25-18 set victory, tying the match at two sets to two. Junior outside hitter Biamba Tshitenge collected four kills in the set, while Corey-Bey had two kills and a block to lead the charge.
 
The fifth and final set started with a 4-0 run from Salisbury that involved a tag-teamed block by Sullivan and senior Nicole Venturelli. After Frostburg gained a point on an attack error, the Sea Gulls pulled off another run of four-consecutive points to give them a commanding 8-1 lead. The smallest deficit the Bobcats would face in the set was four points, after they scored four out of five points to cut the Salisbury lead to 9-5. The Sea Gulls would win the set, 15-10 to seal the match victory.
 
Tshitenge led the way for the Bobcats, collecting 17 kills and three blocks. Corey-Bey had three blocks as well to go along with her 14 kills. Junior Katie Onyundo collected a double-double with 44 assists and 18 digs and junior Cori Smothers led the team with 29 digs and added three service aces.    
 
The Bobcats fall to 10-21, 2-5 in the CAC while the Sea Gulls move to 14-9, 3-4 in conference play.
 
The Frostburg Quad Match will continue tomorrow, October 27 in Bobcat Arena, with the Bobcats scheduled to face Clarkson at 1:00 p.m. and SUNY Geneseo at 5:00 p.m.