MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - The Tiger volleyball team opened its season by splitting a pair of matches on day one of the West Virginia Mountaineer Invitational on Saturday. The Tigers (1-1) posted a 3-1 win over New Hampshire before falling to #21 Ohio State by a 3-0 score.

The Tigers found themselves down early against the Wildcats as New Hampshire battled through three ties and two lead changes to take the first set, 25-19. Towson hit .226 in the second set and held the Wildcats to a -.034 percentage as the Tigers tied the match at 1-1 with a 25-16 win. The third set took extra points to settle as the two teams battled through nine ties before the Tigers earned a 31-29 victory. Towson clinched the victory in the match with a 25-12 win in the fourth set.

Susan Gansor recorded her second career "double-double" as she posted 12 kills and a career-high 11 blocks. Katy Buck posted a match-high 18 kills and added eight digs. Aubrey Kirven also had a "double-double" in the contest with 38 assists and 15 digs. I'ishah Keliikoa had 10 kills while Paige Sekerak contributed 20 digs. Stacey Niehoff finished with 12 digs.

Destiny Tolliver led New Hampshire with seven kills and 11 digs.

In the second match of the day against Ohio State, the Tigers battled through five ties before the Buckeyes won the first set, 25-18. Ohio State hit .469 in the second set and used a 25-16 win to take a 2-0 advantage in the match. The two squads battle through four ties in the third set before the Buckeyes claimed the 25-19 win and a 3-0 match victory.

Buck led the Tigers with 14 kills and added five digs while Kirven contributed 26 assists and six digs. Sekerak posted 10 digs for the Tigers.

Kaitlyn Leary came off the bench to lead Ohio State with 14 kills while Amanda Peterson finished with 37 assists and eight digs.

The Tigers return to the court on Sunday, August 28 for day two of the West Virginia Mountaineer Invitational. The Tigers will face West Virginia at 1 p.m. and Robert Morris at 4 p.m.

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