RICHMOND, Va. - Freshman Paige Sekerak had 16 digs and seven service aces but it was not enough as the Towson University volleyball fell at Virginia Commonwealth, 3-1 on Friday evening. Sekerak's aces are tied for third on the Tigers' (16-7, 3-3 CAA) single-match service aces record.

In the first set with VCU leading 24-22, the two squads would face a tough battle. The Rams and Tigers would play through seven ties from that point on and were tied at 30-30. A pair of attack errors by the Tigers would allow VCU to take the set 32-30. Behind some strong serves from Sekerak and junior Stacey Niehoff the Tigers opened the second set on a 12-1 run. Towson would extend its lead to 19-10 on a kill from junior Alysha McCreary. The Tigers would take the second set 25-18 and tie the match at 1-1.

Behind three kills and seven digs from Kristin Boyd, the Rams took the third set 25-20 and led 2-1 in the match. The two squads battled through 10 ties and four lead changes in the fourth set. Boyd had four kills in the set to lead VCU to the 25-23 set win and the victory in the match.

Sophomore Katy Buck led the Tigers with 15 kills and six digs while junior Aubrey Kirven contributed 52 assists and six digs. McCreary posted 14 kills, four service aces and three block assists while fellow junior Dayane Van Ass had 14 kills and six digs. Senior Susan Gansor was the fourth Tiger to reach double digit kills as she finished with 10.

Boyd led the Rams with 17 kills and nine digs in the contest. Cecilia Aragao finished with 41 assists and 12 digs while Amanda Friday had 10 digs. VCU posted 16.5 team blocks in the match as six Rams had at least three block assists in the contest. Jasmine Waters led the way with eight block assists.

The Tigers are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 15 when they travel to William & Mary for a 7 p.m. match.

- TOWSONTIGERS.COM -