First Serve: The No. 3 Towson volleyball team begins its CAA Tournament run on Friday, Nov. 21. The Tigers face No. 6 James Madison at 7 p.m. in Charleston, South Carolina.

It's Good to Be Back: After a one-year absence the Tiger volleyball team is back in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament. The Tigers will be making their ninth appearance in the tournament since joining the league in time for the 2002 season. Towson's best performance in the CAA Tournament came in 2004 when the Tigers won the league and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

I'm Honored: After a strong performance in the regular season, the Tigers were well rewarded as the league announced its all-conference teams on Wednesday night. Towson head coach Don Metil was named the CAA Coach of the Year after leading a strong turnaround in his second year at the helm. Seniors Saitaua Iosia and Victoria Williams were named first team All-CAA. Senior Paige Sekerak and junior Haley Pa'akaula picked up third team All-CAA accolades. Freshman Barbara Lopez was selected to the CAA All-Rookie squad while redshirt junior Aimee Schubert was a CAA All-Academic honoree.

Killer Attack: Senior Saitaua Iosia has been a key reason the Tigers have found success this season. Iosia currently leads the team with 442 kills. Her kills total currently ranks sixth in single-season history at Towson. Iosia is second in the CAA in kills per set (4.13). As of Monday, Nov. 16, she was 31st in the nation for total kills and 45 in kills per set.

Against Our Opponents: Towson will face James Madison in the first round of the CAA Tournament. The Tigers swept the regular season meetings with the Dukes (3-0 at home, 3-2 in Harrisonburg). This is the second time the Tigers will face JMU in the CAA Tournament. In 2005, Towson earned a 3-1 victory over the Dukes in the first round. The winner of that match will advance to face No. 2 Hofstra on Saturday.  Should the Tigers advance to Saturday, they will be looking for their first win over the Pride in a postseason tournament since the 1984 ECC Tournament. Towosn is 0-6 (including 0-2  in CAA) since that win.

Piling Up the Wins: Towson enters the CAA Tournament with a record of 27-4 and 13-3 in CAA play. The 27 wins this season are tied for the third most in school history and mark a 17-match improvment since 2013. The 13 conference wins are the most by the program since 2006 and tied for the third most in program history. In addition the Tigers went 14-1 at home this year, tying the 2004 squad for the most home wins.

Welcome to the Block Party: In 22 of the Tigers' 27 wins this season the team has recorded five or more blocks. That includes a season-high 15 blocks in the win over St. John's. Towson is 22-3 this season when it records five or more blocks in a match. Sophomore Lindsay Flaherty has collected 91 of her team-high 103 blocks in the Tigers' 27 wins while redshirt sophomore Candace Steadman has contributed 85 blocks in those matches.

Your Next Iron Tiger: One consistent for the Tigers during the last four years has been libero Paige Sekerak in the line-up. Even though she doesn't get credit for being a starter as the libero, Sekerak has played in every match during the last four years. She enters the CAA Tournament having played in 452 career sets. That ranks sixth in the record books at Towson. The school record for career sets played is 479 set by Heidi Schaefer, who played from 1991 to 1994.

Up Next: The winner of Friday's match between the Tigers and Dukes will face No. 2 Hofstra on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 4 p.m.