Tigers Triumph Over Hofstra in Thrilling Four-Set Victory to Cap Off Regular Season

By: Kylie Jones, Staff Writer and Henry Ortiz, Contributing Writer

After a crushing five set loss on Friday, the Tigers needed to come out on top against Hofstra. This game marked the last regular season game for the Tigers, starting with a celebration of the senior players. After four tough sets, Towson was able to come out victorious over the Pride from Hofstra.

The Tigers came out excited with a lineup featuring the five seniors. Towson came out firing and quickly jumped to a 7-3 lead before Hofstra took an early time out. The Tigers then stretched the lead to five, but Hofstra began to gain traction on Towson, shrinking the lead to two. 

Three kills were then split between De Mango, Callender, and Barrett and with two back-to-back kills added by Zyare Abdul-Rahim, the score became 20-15, with Towson leading the charge. After a quick timeout, Hofstra would score four straight points, but it wasn’t enough as Towson took the first set 25-20 after a kill from Ava Nakai. 

Looking to have a better second set than yesterday’s, the Tigers remained poised and focused on playing with a sense of togetherness, as said by Rahim, who formerly played for Hofstra. 

“I used to play for Hofstra. I understood how they were going to play and I knew I had to keep myself together. As a team we couldn’t get as flustered today and we had to play cleaner on offense,” said Rahim. 

The second set started off tight, but turned into an 8-8 draw. De Mango and Abdul-Rahim would each deliver a kill to put Towson on top of Hofstra. The battle continued, however, as the Pride brought the match to a 16-16 tie and would then take the lead.

Battling down to the wire, libero Sydney Stewart would showcase multiple impressive saves to keep the Tigers in the game. Towson came within one point of taking the set for themselves and a kill from Ava Nakai would seal it as the Tigers took it with a score of 25-22. 

With a 2-0 set lead, the Tigers would look to sweep the Pride from Hofstra. Abdul-Rahim would now lead the Tigers in kills, managing four in the third set alone, giving Towson a 10-7 lead. The Tigers would then stretch this lead further, making it 14-10 thanks to two kills from De Mango, an added kill from Abdul-Rahim, and a solo block from Erin Brothers. 

The Pride would narrow the lead to one after managing three straight kills and a service ace against the Tigers. Another service ace from Hofstra would bring the set to a 17-17 draw. 

Hofstra was not only able to answer Towson, but they would then take the narrow lead after an attack error from Barrett, making the score 23-22. Barrett delivered two more errors, allowing Hofstra to take the third set and forcing a fourth after finishing with a score of 25-22. 

Like the others, the fourth set began as a contested battle between the two teams. Barrett would start the set with three kills, while Callender delivered two of her own. Moran, De Mango, and Brothers would each contribute one kill, bringing the score to 9-7 with the Tigers on top. 

De Mango would then deliver another kill and a block assisted by Abdul-Rahim to put the Tigers up by three points. After a kill from Abdul-Rahim that brought the score to 14-11, Hofstra took a timeout followed by a one point gain for the Pride. 

A block and a kill from freshman Ava Nakai would bring the score to 17-14 for the Tigers, but the deficit wouldn’t stop the Pride from battling back with three straight kills to put them above Towson by one point. Towson was able to even it, but Hofstra responded by delivering two kills to make the score 22-20. 

Now with a score of 23-22 and Hofstra on top, the Tigers had to deliver. The Pride were able to gain one more point, but a kill by Barrett and an error by Hofstra would tie the set. Hofstra scored a 25th point that would be reviewed and eventually go in Towson’s favor, but Hofstra still managed to catch up. 

A battle for the finish would now ensue.  An error by Hofstra would put Towson up by one point again, but Hofstra answered with two straight. Towson would then go on to record three straight kills, with two by Brothers and one by Nakai that would deliver the final blow as the Tigers would take the win 29-27. 

This win evened the two day series between Towson and Hofstra and ended the regular season for the Tigers. Erin Brothers led the team in blocks for the match with nine total, while Victoria Barrett delivered twelve kills and Zyare Abdul-Rahim managed eleven of her own. 

Barrett attributes the win to the adjustments made by the team.

“We made adjustments today with our lineups and our game plan and it ended up working out for us,” Barrett said. 

Towson ends their regular season with a conference record of 14-4 and an overall record of 23-5 as they head into the playoffs. The Tigers will return home as the third seed in the CAA Tournament next Thursday through Saturday at TU Arena.