WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senior Dayane Van Ass and junior Victoria Williams combined for 26 kills to lead the Towson University volleyball team to a 3-1 win over George Washington on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers snapped a five-match losing streak with the victory.
“We got some great performances from Dayane and Victoria today,” said Towson head coach Don Metil. “Dayane came up with two solo blocks at the end which were huge and Paige Sekerak really gave us a solid performance on the back line.”
The two teams found themselves tied at 7-7 early in the first set. Freshman Lindsay Flaherty recorded a kill on the next play to start an 11-4 run by the visitors. That stretch gave the Tigers (6-13) an 18-11 lead in the set and included a pair of kills from Flaherty and Van Ass. The two teams continued to battle before a kill from junior Saitaua Iosia gave Towson a 25-17 set victory.
The Tigers came out hot to start the second set and scored 10 of the first 13 points. George Washington called timeout and responded with an 11-4 run to tie the set at 14-14. Three straight kills from sophomore Haley Pa'akaula put the Tigers back on top, 17-14. Towson used a kill from Van Ass to extend its lead to 21-16. A service ace from Iosia secured a 25-20 set win and a 2-0 lead in the match for the Tigers.
The third set was perhaps the most tightly contested of the match. The Colonials (5-9) and Tigers battled through 12 ties and four lead changes. George Washington eventually claimed a 25-23 set win on a kill from Kelsey Newman.
The Colonials looked to continue their hot play to start the fourth as they opened up a 7-1 lead. George Washington extended their advantage to 15-8 on a service ace and forced Towson to call its second timeout. Towson responded coming out of the timeout and used a 6-0 run to pull to within one, 15-14. The Colonials scored five of the next seven points to take a 20-16 advantage in the set. The teams traded points before back-to-back blocks by the Colonials, gave the home team a 24-19 lead.
Towson wasn't done fighting in the match as the Tigers scored the next six points to take a 25-24 lead. Van Ass had a pair of solo blocks and a kill to lead the Tigers during that stretch. The two teams traded points and found themselves tied at 26-26. Kills from Iosia and Williams gave the Tigers a 28-26 win in the set and victory in the match.
Williams hit .314 with 15 kills to lead the Tigers in the contest. Van Ass had 11 kills, hit .375 and added the two solo blocks. Junior Aimee Schubert dished out a season-high 25 assists with seven digs while junior Casey Giovanazzi contributed 19 assists and nine digs.
Sekerak posted a career-high 30 digs in the match. It's the first time since 2009 that the Tigers had a player record 30+ digs in a match. Sekerak now has 1,136 digs for her career which stands eighth in school history.
Newman led George Washington with 18 kills while Jordan Timmer had 28 assists.
Towson is back in action on Friday, Oct. 4 when the Tigers host Hofstra at 3 p.m. in SECU Arena. It will be the Tigers' Pink Match and all fans are encouraged to wear pink to support breast cancer awareness.
