Towson Volleyball moves to 22-1 in win over William & Mary
By: Jake Shindel, Sports Editor
The Towson Volleyball team picked up a win at home against William & Mary in four sets on Sunday, Oct. 30. The Tigers moved to 11-1 in conference play, second to Hofstra.
Three players recorded double-digit kills for Towson, with middle blocker Irbe Lazda recording 17, and middle blocker Aayinde Smith and outside hitter Fay Bakodimou recording ten kills each. Defensive specialist Rachel Hess led the defensive effort for Towson, tallying 18 digs.
“One thing that’s special about this squad is the diversity in the offense, and at any given day, anyone can step up and be a leader in this program,” Head Coach Don Metil said.
Towson started the game with a 9-5 lead behind three early kills by Bakodimou. The Tigers started to pull away towards the end of the set, garnering a 21-14 lead before William & Mary called a timeout. A cross-court kill by Smith ended the first set, with Towson taking a 25-17 set win.
Bakodimou and Lazda led the Tigers through the first set with five kills each, while Hess had five digs in the first set. For William & Mary, Taylor Burrell and Kaitlyn Ferguson had three kills each.
“It was nice for us to come out today and win set one by a pretty decent margin,” Metil saidhat was a goal of ours because against Chicago State and here yesterday we came out slow, but then we’ve got to stay in the fight for as long as it takes.”
Metil took a timeout early in the second set as he found his team down 9-3, but an 8-2 run tied the game at 11, and the two foes started trading points. The teams were knotted at 15 apiece, but William & Mary scored two straight to take a 17-15 advantage. A costly service error by William & Mary gave Towson the serve back only down one.
Metil took another timeout when the team went down 19-17. Towson seemed to cut the lead to 23-21, but a successful William & Mary challenge gave the Tribe a 24-20 lead, and a kill by Burrell gave William & Mary a 25-20 set win, tying the game at 1-1.
Lazda had another five kills in the second set for Towson, while Burrell had five kills for the Tribe.
Towson faced an early deficit early in the third set, but came back to take a 12-9 lead, causing William & Mary to call a timeout. The Tribe came out of the timeout, but the adjustments were not enough as Towson extended their lead to five, 19-14. An ace by Bakodimou gave the Tigers a crucial third set, winning 25-16.
Lazda increased her kill total to 14 by the end of the third set, while Smith ranked second on the team with eight kills. For the Tribe, Anna Porter led the defensive effort with eight digs through three sets.
A fierce kill by outside hitter Nina Cajic gave Towson an 8-6 lead early in the third set, and maintained the lead throughout. William & Mary took a timeout as Towson put together a 15-11 lead. Towson called a timeout with a 17-14 lead, and came out of the break with a 2-0 run before a block by William & Mary put the game at 19-15.
Metil took a timeout for Towson late in the set as William & Mary was able to cut the lead to 22-20. Smith had a powerful kill to put the game at 24-20, but a 2-0 run by William & Mary put the score back at 24-23 with Towson in the lead. The Tigers went on to win the set 25-23 after an unsuccessful William & Mary challenge on the final point.
Towson won the game 3-1, and will travel to the College of Charleston for two games on Nov. 5 and 6. Both games are set for 1 p.m.
