TOWSON, Md. – Five players recorded at least six kills to lead the Towson University volleyball team to a 3-0 win over Hofstra University on Friday night in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) action. Playing at home for the first time since August, the Tigers extended their win streak to four straight matches while handing the Pride, the defending CAA Champ, it's first conference loss of the year.

THE BASICS
Towson 3, Hofstra 0
SECU Arena, Towson, Md.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first set was a back-and-forth battle that saw the two teams fight through 11 ties and four lead changes. Towson trailed 22-19 followed a kill from the Pride's (14-7, 5-1 CAA) Brianna Montgomery. The Tigers (17-2, 4-1 CAA) responded with a 4-0 run to take a 23-22 lead. Redshirt junior Candace Steadman had a kill and a block assist during that run. Hofstra called timeout and got a kill from Nanishka Perez coming out of the break to tie the set at 23-23. Back-to-back kills from junior Jessica Lewis and senior Haley Pa'akaula gave Towson a 25-23 set win.
• Towson hit .387 in the first set while holding the Pride to a .185 clip. Pa'akaula had six kills and two digs to lead the Tigers in the set.
• A pair of kills from freshman Jocelyn Kuilan gave Towson an 18-14 lead in the second set. Hofstra used a 10-5 run to take a 24-23 lead in the set. Veronika Kostova led the Pride with four kills during that stretch while Perez added three. The two teams traded points and Towson trailed 25-24. The Tigers however rallied to score the next three points and took the second set 27-25. Steadman and sophomore Julymar Otero each had a kill and a block assist during that key stretch which helped the Tigers take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Towson hit .273 in the set as Kuilan had five kills and two blocks. Hofstra hit .208 as Kostova led all players with seven kills in the set.
• The Tigers jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the third set as Hofstra was forced to use both of its timeouts early in the set. A kill from Pa'akaula extended the Towson advantage to 10-5. A 9-4 run by the Pride tied the third set at 14-14. Perez and Kostova each had a pair of kills during that stretch. The two teams continued to battle as a kill from Pa'akaula tied the set at 17-17. Back-to-back service aces from redshirt freshman Anna Holehouse gave Towson a lead it would not relinquish. The two teams battled for each point as Hofstra pulled to within one, 23-22 on a kill from Perez. Towson used a kill from Lewis and an attack error by the Pride to earn a 25-22 set win and victory in the match.
• Hofstra hit .294 to Towson's .222 percentage in the third set. Senior Kyana Miller had seven assists and four digs for the Tigers.

QUOTABLE

• "It was important for us to be at home and play well at home," said Towson head coach Don Metil. "To get a win at home is a comfortable feeling and now we can go into the practice gym and feel good working forward. We had careless errors early but luckily we turned things around and played a little bit better. I think it was a huge statement for us to get the early lead tonight, Hofstra had gone five sets in four of its five CAA matches and they won the first two sets in those, so it was important."

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Tigers won their second straight match against the Pride.
• Towson is now 7-0 in three set matches this season.
• Pa'akaula led the Tigers with 11 kills, four digs and two assists while Lewis posted 10 kills and three digs.
• Holehouse had a match-high 13 digs while redshirt senior Aimee Schubert had 20 assists and six digs.

The Tigers are back in action when they host Northeastern on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. in SECU Arena.