Volleyball: Win streak extended to 13 Games
By: Jordan Cope, Assistant Sports Editor
Towson competed in the Tennessee Tech Tournament this weekend, its final tournament of the season, and stretched its winning streak to 13 games with victories over Tennessee Tech, Idaho and Western Carolina.
“It feels good, we continue to overcome obstacles that get put in front of us,” Head Coach Don Metil said. “It’s just nice to see that some of the younger kids get to step up and shine in the face of adversity.”
In game one of the tournament, the Tigers defeated Tennessee Tech 3-0.
Towson took the first set 25-21. The two teams traded a pair of 3-0 runs early in the match until the Tigers took four of the last five points and clinched the opening set.
“Our game plan for the first two matches was really to get our right side involved,” Metil said. “Tennessee Tech had a very good athlete on the right side, so we felt the need to set our right sides often and they really came up big in that match and throughout the course of the weekend.”
In set two, Towson and Tennessee Tech were tied 18-18 but the Tigers were able to take seven of the last 10 points that were scored and clinched a 25-20 win.
In the third set of the match, Towson fell behind Tennessee Tech 4-1 but were able to go on a 3-0 run to tie the match 4-4. Later, the Tigers opened the match up by going on a 4-0 run before securing the win over the Golden Eagles.
After opening the tournament victorious, the Tigers took on Idaho and earned a 3-2 win.
In the opening set against Idaho, Towson fell 25-23 but were able to tie the match 1-1 after taking set two 25-19.
After dropping set three and taking set four, the Tigers took the decisive set five 15-10 to stretch their winning streak to 12 games.
“If we lose control of our first touch we seem to falter quickly,” Metil said. “It’s something we continue to work on in the practice gym. If we continue to work on it and get better, we will be a really hard team to defend.”
In the final game of the tournament, Towson earned its thirteenth straight victory by defeating Western Carolina 3-1.
In set one, the Tigers fell 25-20.
“Typically our team isn’t a good morning team,” Metil said. “We don’t practice in the morning so to ask our girls to get up in the morning and perform at their best in a morning match is atypical for us. After that first set we just had to regroup, talk to the team and go back to what we were trying to do in regards to our game plan.
After dropping the first set, the Tigers took the next three sets to defeat Western Carolina and advance their record to 13-1.
Towson will kickoff conference play Wednesday night in Harrisonburg, Virginia against the James Madison Dukes, which begins a four game road trip.
“I would love to survive this early road trip with some wins so we can get everyone back and healthy and make a big push,” Metil said. “The Delaware, William & Mary and Elon matches will be pivotal because if we don’t have our healthy squad back we are going to have to beat some teams that are above us probably.”