BALTIMORE, Md. - The Tigers used a pair of wins to capture the Battle of Baltimore title for the second straight year and improved to 9-0 on the year. Towson was led by tournament MVP Amanda Halls and all-tournament selection Shelynne Hoyt as the team defeated UMBC and Loyola by 3-0 scores.

The Tigers also tied the 2001, 2002 Tiger volleyball teams for the best start in school history with their 9-0 start.

Towson hit .304 in its first set against UMBC and grabbed a 25-18 win. The Tigers hit an impressive .464 to claim a 25-20 win in the second set. Towson sealed the victory with a 25-15 win in the third set.

Hoyt led the Tigers with 12 kills and hit an impressive .786 in the match. Hoyt also added three service aces and two blocks. Halls contributed eight kills and nine digs while Evan Schulz had 30 assists and five digs. Lauren Tonokawa led the Tigers with 10 digs. Allie Spaay finished with 15 assists and three digs for UMBC.

Towson faced its toughest challenge of the week when it faced Loyola in its final match of the day. It took extra points for the Tigers in the first set as the team posted a 27-25 win. Towson hit .242 in the second set to earn a 25-17 win. The third set was a back and forth battle with the Tigers pulling out a 25-23 win after trailing for part of the set.

Halls finished with her second "double-double" of the season. She contributed 12 kills and 10 digs to go along with three service aces. Katy Buck finished with 10 kills and eight digs in the match while Schulz had 34 assists and six digs. Tonokawa had a season-high 18 digs for the Tigers. Katie Dircks had 11 kills to lead Loyola.

The Tigers put their nine-match win streak on the line on Thursday, September 9. Towson hosts Howard at 6 p.m. in the Towson Center as part of the Madison Bingaman Memorial Tournament.

-- TIGERS --