TOWSON, Md. ? The Towson volleyball team closed out the regular season with a 3-0 victory over Delaware on Saturday night at the Towson Center. The Tigers (19-11, 8-6 CAA) recorded their second victory over the Blue Hens (16-15, 9-5 CAA) this season and now advance to next week's Colonial Athletic Association Tournament.
“I think tonight was a huge win for us,” commented Coach Paul Koncir. “We need a big win to head into the tournament on a high note and I think tonight we really got a well rounded performance from our hitting percentage (.284) to our blocks (10) and everything in between.”
“On senior night, our seniors stepped up and led the way,” remarked Koncir. “In addition we got big performances from our other players as well and this really takes us to where we need to be right now.”
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead in the match with a 25-16 victory in set one. Towson hit .294 to Delaware's .042 in the first set. The Tigers extended their lead with a 25-22 win in set two. Towson closed out the match with a 25-16 victory in set three. Once again the Tigers were able to hit well with a .375 mark in the third set to Delaware's .064.
The Tigers got contributions from all over in the victory, including the seniors who were honored prior to the match. Senior Ally Perko recorded her fourth “double-double” of the year with 10 kills and 16 digs while fellow senior Valerie Chromy hit .529 with nine kills and no attack errors in 17 attempts. Senior Maddie Haseltine finished just shy of a “double-double” with nine kills and 10 digs. Senior Kristina Shannon led all players with 18 digs.
Sophomore Katee Luecke had 33 assists and six digs while fellow sophomore Shelynne Hoyt hit .500 with eight kills and three blocks. The Tigers had a strong night at the net finishing with 10 team blocks while freshman Susan Gansor had seven block assists on the night.
Delaware was led by Kim Stewart's 11 kills while Jess Chason finished with 21 assists. Stephanie Barry contributed 16 digs while Katie Dennehy posted 12 digs.
The Tigers are back in action on Friday, November 21 when the CAA Tournament begins. Towson earned the sixth seed for the tournament and will be facing the Blue Hens in the first round, as Delaware earned the tournament's three seed. The site of the tournament will be determined by tomorrow's match between William & Mary and Northeastern with game times to be set following that.
