TOWSON, Md. - Sophomore Katy Buck recorded a match-high 16 kills to lead the Towson University volleyball team to a 3-0 victory over UNC Wilmington on Friday night. Buck also added five digs and two blocks to lead the Tigers (18-7, 5-3 CAA) to their second straight victory.
"I thought we did a nice job tonight especially when they were stacking the defense on Katy to slide to another player and run the play," said Coach Bruce Atkinson. "We made some mistakes tonight but we were able to correct and that's important."
UNC Wilmington (9-15, 2-5 CAA) got off to a strong start in the first set and led at one point 16-11. The Tigers would rally to tie the match at 19-19 on a kill by Buck. The Seahawks would have set point at 24-21 before the Tigers rallied to tie the match at 24-24. Towson tied the set behind a pair of kills from junior Aubrey Kirven and one from sophomore Dayane Van Ass. UNC Wilmington would have another set point at 25-24 but a pair of kills from Van Ass and one from senior Susan Gansor would complete the Towson comeback. The Tigers took the first set 27-25.
In the second set, the Tigers would jump out to an early 7-2 lead and extend their advantage to 18-10 on a kill from Buck. Towson would eventually take the second set, 25-17 as a kill from Buck secured the set win. The third set was a tightly contested one as the two squads battled through 11 ties and five lead changes. Leading 21-19, the Tigers got a kill from Gansor and three straight kills from Buck to close out the Seahawks, 25-19.
Buck hit .343 in the match as she reached double digit kills for the eighth straight match and 21st time this season. Van Ass posted her third straight match with double digit kills as she recorded 11. Junior Alysha McCreary had 10 kills and two blocks while Kirven added 44 assists, seven digs and three kills. Freshman Paige Sekerak contributed 10 digs and Gansor had eight kills and hit .429.
Morgan Kline led UNC Wilmington with eight kills and 11 digs in the match while Haley Collins had 14 digs. Kelsey Bendig finished with 26 assists and four digs.
Towson returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 22 when it hosts Georgia State in the Towson Center at 7 p.m. The Panthers dropped a 3-1 decision at Delaware on Friday evening.
- TOWSONTIGERS.COM -
