BOX SCORE SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Junior Haley Pa'akaula and senior Victoria Williams recorded 10 kills each to lead the Towson University volleyball team to a 3-0 win over UMass Lowell at the Hampton Inn-vitational on Friday evening. The Tigers won their season opener for the seventh time in the last eight years.

"We did a really good job of managing the game today," said Tiger Head Coach Don Metil. "We took care of the ball for the most part and our serving kept UMass Lowell out of system. From there, our blockers did a great job of identifying what our opponent could and could not do and we transitioned well from defense to offense."

Towson opened the first set on a 9-5 run behind a block from senior Saitaua Iosia and sophomore Lindsay Flaherty. Back-to-back kills from redshirt sophomore Candace Steadman extended the Tiger advantage to 15-11. Towson continued to push its lead as a kill from redshirt junior Aimee Schubert made it 19-13. Williams and Flaherty combined for blocks on three of the last five plays to give Towson the 25-14 set win.

The Tigers and Riverhawks battled through a couple of ties early in the second set before a service ace from Schubert put Towson ahead 13-8. The Tigers extended the lead to 17-12 on a Flaherty service ace. That ace was part of a 7-0 run that put Towson on top 23-12 in the set. The Tigers closed out the set, 25-15 on a kill from senior Paige Sekerak. Towson hit .478 in the set and led 2-0 in the match.

A block from Pa'akaula and Flaherty allowed the Tigers to open up an 11-5 lead in the third set. A kill from Pa'akaula extended the advantage to 15-8. That kill was part of a 7-0 run and gave Towson a 21-8 lead in the set. An attack error by UMass Lowell closed out the set as the Tigers won 25-12 and 3-0 in the match.

Williams finished with 10 kills while hitting .769 in the match and adding four blocks. Pa'akaula recorded the "double-double" with 10 kills and 10 digs while contributing three blocks. Schubert dished out 29 assists to go along with three service aces and four digs. Senior Capri Tirrell added nine digs.

Ella Merrill posted 11 kills to lead UMass Lowell while Kylee Chun had 16 assists.

The Tigers are back in action on Saturday for day two of the Hampton Inn-vitational. Towson faces Army at 10 a.m. and Bryant at 12 noon.