Towson Win Streak Extends to 9 with 3-1 Victory Over Penn
By: Sean Daly, contributing writer
The Tigers have kept busy these past two weekends.
Last weekend’s Towson-Morgan State Invite saw the team go 4-0 at home. This past Friday and Saturday, the squad successfully defended home turf for 4 more games during the Towson-Coppin State Invitational. This homestand concluded with Towson’s Saturday evening match against the Pennsylvania Quakers.
Towson set the tone early, with a kill by Sarah Callender followed by back-to-back kills by Erin Brothers giving Towson an early three-point lead. Highlighted by numerous long rallies, Towson scored five unanswered points off three consecutive attack errors by Penn, followed by two straight kills by Brothers, extending the lead to 10-4.
After a timeout by Penn, the Quakers answered back, leading to the two teams trading points, highlighted by kills from Destini Pickett, Malinah Purcell-Telefoni, and Ella Sanders.
“Last game wasn’t my great game, and I was struggling,” said Pickett. “That’s what motivated me to do better this game, and I feel like I gave it my all and I tried as much as I could.”
Eventually, the Quakers cut the lead to two down the stretch, with kills by Callender, Pickett and Sanders keeping the Tigers in the lead. A kill by Callender sealed the set for the Tigers, 25-21.
The squad kept the momentum going through the second set. With back and forth points tying the game 4-4, the Tigers sunk their fangs into a four-point run, with a kill by Brothers, consecutive attack errors by the Quakers, and a service ace by Sanders.
Pickett came out guns blazing midway through the set, with three consecutive kills breathing life into the Towson squad after a few points by the Quakers.
“She’s the spark,” Sanders said about Pickett, who is having a breakout freshman year for the team. “We all look to Destini for motivation to like, pick us up.”
The rest of set two was all Tigers, with a kill by Peyton Meyer closing it out 25-17.
Up two sets, Towson quickly found themselves on the back foot after falling 2-5 early on to the Quakers in set three. Once Penn tasted blood, it was off to the races. The Tigers soon found themselves down 7-17, unable to defend an onslaught of kills.
Despite Penn’s dominant showing down two sets, all hope was not lost for Towson in set three. The energy shift began with a kill by Pickett and a set error by the Quakers. Seeing some light, the Tigers pounced on a 7-2 run featuring a kill by Sanders, two by Callender, and multiple Quaker errors.
Unfortunately for Towson, this last ditch effort proved to be too little, too late, as Penn would stand their ground and take the set 25-18.
Looking to close the match after a flawed performance in set three, Sanders and Pickett started set four with kills, as the energy on the Towson side steadily increased.
“We shouldn’t have even gotten to that point,” said Sanders about the third set. “As long as we clean up our errors, then we’ll be able to pull through like we did the other few sets.”
Brothers had herself a strong performance for the entire match, but in the fourth set, she took it up another notch with back-to-back kills elevating the Tigers to an 8-5 lead. She then put away two more kills for a 10-6 lead. In total, Brothers had seven kills in the fourth set.
A service ace by Purcell-Telefoni would give the Tigers a 16-11 lead, their largest of the set.
After trading points for the entire set, the Tigers looked to take match point, the score 24-22. However, Penn successfully defended two match points, and had an opportunity for a set point of their own after consecutive Tiger errors.
Ultimately, a kill by Brothers and untimely Quaker errors ended the match and solidified Towson’s nine-game win streak. The win featured 18 kills by Brothers, 17 kills and two service aces by Sanders, 11 kills and 13 digs by Pickett, 25 digs by Sydney Stewart, 28 assists by Maisie Jesse and 25 assists by Meyer.
The team will begin conference play next weekend with two matches against Charleston.