Salisbury University Sea Gulls field hockey, football and women’s volleyball each received preseason national poll recognition to open the 2026-27 academic year. Field hockey shared fifth place in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division III National Coaches Poll, football entered the D3football.com Top 25 at No. 17 and women’s volleyball received votes in the AVCA-Taraflex Division III WVB preseason poll.
The rankings appeared in Salisbury University’s Roadie Joes Rankings announcement. The Sea Gulls also opened the season with wins in field hockey and women’s volleyball, while football prepares for its season opener.
Salisbury University field hockey shares fifth place
Salisbury University field hockey shared fifth place with Bates College in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division III National Coaches Poll preseason rankings released Aug. 25. Both teams received 359 points, placing them behind fourth-place Christopher Newport with 407 points and ahead of seventh-place Middlebury with 336 points.
Tufts led the preseason poll with 450 points, followed by Johns Hopkins with 437 and Babson with 418. Salisbury opened the season with a 5-1 win over Swarthmore, as Morgan Davis scored the Sea Gulls’ first goal and Salisbury added four more after halftime.
Salisbury will visit Stockton Sunday at 1 p.m.
Salisbury University football enters preseason poll at No. 17
Salisbury University football entered the D3football.com Top 25 preseason poll ranked 17th with 237 points. Berry ranked 16th with 238 points, while Christopher Newport ranked 18th with 182 points.
North Central ranked first after receiving all 25 first-place votes, followed by Bethel (Minn.) and Mount Union. Salisbury finished the previous football season with a 10-2 record and reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
The Sea Gulls will open the season at home against McDaniel Saturday at 1 p.m. as part of Gold Rush.
Salisbury University women’s volleyball receives preseason votes
Salisbury University women’s volleyball received 45 points in the AVCA-Taraflex Division III WVB preseason poll released Aug. 27. The total ranked sixth among teams receiving votes and was the equivalent of 31st nationally.
Wisconsin-Oshkosh ranked first with 1,900 points, followed by Trinity (Texas) and Berry. Franklin & Marshall received 54 points, while Lawrence received 35.
Salisbury opened the season with a 3-0 win over Stockton. Julie Altieri recorded 25 assists and 16 digs while registering her 50th career double-double, and Kiley McTaggart led Salisbury with 11 kills.
The Sea Gulls will play Drew Friday at 4 p.m. in the Margie Knight Classic. Salisbury will close the event Saturday with matches against Muskingum and Lebanon Valley.
Maryland Sports Blog Take
Salisbury University has three fall programs represented in preseason national polling. Field hockey’s shared fifth-place position is the highest of the three placements, while football’s No. 17 ranking follows a 10-2 season and an NCAA Tournament round-of-16 appearance.
Women’s volleyball also received national attention with 45 preseason poll points and began the season with a sweep of Stockton. The three poll appearances give the Salisbury University Sea Gulls an early measure of national recognition across field hockey, football and women’s volleyball.
Source: Original report
