Weekend Split
By: Katrina Le, Staff Writer
Towson split a pair of Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) matches this week, defeating Elon 3-1 but falling to Delaware 3-0.
“It was good to get a road win at Elon,” Head Coach Don Metil said. “It’s always more difficult to secure a ‘W’ on the road. With a .500 week we are still going to need at least one more CAA win to secure a spot in the postseason.”
On Friday, the Tigers battled in tight sets to claim a 3-1 victory over the Phoenix on the road in Elon, North Carolina.
Towson started the first set with a 6-3 lead thanks to a kill by sophomore outside hitter Carola Biver.
Not long after the kill from Biver, the Phoenix managed to claim a 12-11 lead which prompted the Tigers to use a 7-2 run in order to take a 18-14 advantage.
Elon responded by scoring nine of the next 13 points to take a 23-22 lead, but an attack error tied the game.
Sophomore right side hitter Jocelyn Kuilan delivered a kill and a service ace to give Towson a 25-23 win in the first set.
In the second set, the Tigers used an 8-2 run to jump out to a 16-9 lead. Senior middle blocker Candace Steadman knocked down a block and freshman outside hitter Annie Ertz followed with a kill to later extend the Tigers lead to 23-16.
Junior outside hitter Payton Windell wrapped up the set with a kill, allowing the Tigers to move on with a 2-0 lead over the Phoenix.
In the third set, Elon came out strong, using a 13-5 run to take an 18-13 lead. Towson managed to score four straight points to come within three, but Elon outside hitter Kam Terry forced a fourth set after delivering a kill to win the set 25-21.
Towson broke a 9-9 tie in the fourth set using a 6-2 run to take a 15-11 lead over Elon. Following an Elon timeout, Towson extended its lead by scoring four straight points. Towson ultimately won the set 25-22 and claimed the match 3-1.
The Tigers faced Delaware on Sept. 24 and won 3-1. However, Wednesday Delaware shutout Towson 3-0 at SECU Arena.
“Delaware is playing much better as of late and I don’t think we believed that,” Metil said. “Mentally, we need to prepare for a tougher match the second time we face our conference opponents and I believe we had a different mentality.”
Both teams were tied at six in the first set, before Towson used an 11-7 run to take a 17-13 lead. The teams tied eight times and had three lead changes before the Blue Hens claimed the set 28-26.
The Tigers came out strong in the second set by scoring eight of the first 11 points. Kuilan tacked on two kills in that run. Towson was leading 15-9 before Delaware used a 7-2 run to make the score 17-16. The teams continued to exchange points until a kill by Delaware middle blocker Alexa Swann secured a 25-21 win for the team.
Kuilan started the third set with three straight service aces to give Towson a 7-6 lead. The teams were tied at 10 until Delaware went on to score five of the next six points to take a 15-11 lead. Towson rallied to fall within two points, but Delaware eventually won 25-21.
Towson Volleyball will host its Autism Awareness Match against Hofstra Nov. 4 and honor its seniors on senior day against Northeastern Nov. 6 at SECU Arena.
The Tigers previously lost to both these teams but will look for a different result this time around.
“If we play our complete game, one that includes great serve receive, a potent offense, aggressive defense and a mental intellect to decrease unforced errors, we will be fine” Metil said. “I don’t think the first time against either of these teams, we did all of those things to great execution. We will have to give attention to their primary attackers and we will need our top athletes to perform at their highest of potential.”
