Tigers pluck Blue Hens in CAA opener
Riding the momentum from a big second set, Towson (14-3, 1-0 Colonial Athletic Association) was able to defeat Delaware (3-11, 0-1 CAA) in a 3-0 sweep.
The Tigers took a demanding start to the match with a 25-19 first set victory.
That also ended up being the score of the third set.
“I thought it was a really good win,” sophomore libero Paige Sekerak said. “It was a really good way to start conference play.”
The second set was where all the action was.
With Delaware at set point, 24-19, Towson Head Coach Bruce Atkinson called timeout.
When play resumed, the Tigers were not only able to tie the set with five straight points, but after some back-and-forth, come out victorious in a 32-30 set.
“I don’t remember the last time it went over 30 in a volleyball match ever,” Sekerak said. “It’s been so long, it was so intense and it made it that much better. I don’t think we should have let it get to that point, but being down 24-19, and coming back and winning that over 30 points, that was definitely the way to play.”
Junior outside hitter Katy Buck said that this was exactly the kind of match Towson was expecting out of Delaware.
“They don’t make that many errors and we knew we’d have to put our own balls down,” she said. “They’re not going to give us free points and that’s what we did.”
Buck recorded her third “double-double” of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs.
Senior setter Aubrey Kirven also recorded a “double-double,” her fifth of the year, with 46 assists and 14 digs.
But Buck still wasn’t pleased with her performance.
“It’s still not my best game, but I flipped my defensive position so I’m working on that,” she said. “My hitting, it’ll come around.”
The Tigers’ defense was one of the highlights of the match, with four players coming up with double-digit digs.
In addition to Buck and Kirven, Sekerak recorded 17 and sophomore defensive specialist Aniris Fernandez had 11.
Senior middle blocker McCreary also came up big with the block.
She was the only player in the game with three single blocks and added three block assists to her total.
“We had four players with double-digit digs, which is crazy good,” Sekerak said. “It means we worked well together as a team, it wasn’t just one person leading which is always really nice. It’s so nice to be back there with players you’re comfortable with and you have no doubt that anyone else is not going to dig it. We have faith in each other and know we can get it.”
Towson traveled to the University of Pennsylvania Sunday afternoon where the team extended its winning streak to seven with a 3-2 win over the Quakers.
The Tigers lost the first and fourth sets 25-21 and 25-20. But they won the second, third and fifth sets 25-23, 25-15 and 15-6, respectively.
In the second set alone there were 15 tie scores and five lead changes before Towson came out on top.
Kirven left the match early after only playing two sets.
Freshman setter Kelsey Polak took her place and logged 32 assists on the match.
Junior middle blocker I’ishah Keliikoa lead the team hitting 75 percent while senior opposite hitter Marta Machos had a match-high 17 kills.
The Tigers will continue CAA play when they host Georgia State Friday, Sept. 28.
