TOWSON, Md. – The three Towson University volleyball seniors combined for 32 kills to lead the Tigers to a 3-1 win over first-place Northeastern University on Sunday afternoon in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.

The Tigers, who honored seniors Jessica Lewis, Candace Steadman and Lindsay Flaherty before the match, beat the first-place team in the CAA standings  on "Senior Day" for the second straight season.

THE BASICS
Towson 3, Northeastern 1 (25-13, 21-25, 28-26, 25-21)
SECU Arena, Towson, Md.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Towson quickly opened up a 7-2 lead in the first set as freshman Annie Ertz had three early kills. Kills from Steadman and Lewis allowed the Tigers to extend their lead to 12-5 as Northeastern (20-9, 10-5 CAA) called timeout. Towson (22-7, 9-5 CAA) used a 5-1 run to take a 17-6 lead in the set. Lewis had a pair of kills while redshirt sophomore Anna Holehouse contributed a service ace during that run. Northeastern went on a 4-0 run which made it 20-12. Head coach Don Metil called timeout and after the break, the Tigers scored five of the next six points to take the set, 25-13. Steadman had a pair of blocks while the set point came on a service ace from sophomore Meredith Dignan.
• Northeastern scored the first three points of the second set and forced the Tigers to use an early timeout. Towson responded out of the break with a 13-4 run which gave the Gold and Black attack a 13-7 lead. Ertz had three kills during that stretch while junior Payton Windell had a pair of blocks and Holehouse recorded a pair of service aces. The two teams battled for every point but Northeastern was able to tie the set at 20-20 on a pair of attack errors by the Tigers. A block from Hannah Fry and Caterina Rosander gave Northeastern a 23-21 edge. Towson called timeout but after the break, kills from Fry and Rosander gave the Huskies a 25-21 set win and tied the match at 1-1.
• The third set was a back-and-forth battle that featured 14 ties and six lead changes. Towson trailed 23-21 before a service error by the Huskies and a kill from Steadman tied the set at 23-23. Northeastern went back on top 24-23 before a block from sophomore Carola Biver and Steadman tied the set at 24-24. The Tigers and Huskies went back-and-forth on the next several serves before a kill from Lewis secured a 28-26 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
• The two squads were again forced to battle through 14 ties and six lead changes in the fourth set. However, this time the ties all came early on. With the set tied at 13-13, Towson scored five of the next seven points and took an 18-15 advantage. Lewis had a pair of kills while Holehouse posted her fourth service ace of the match. Dignan's second service ace of the match extended the home team's advantage to 23-19. On "Senior Day" it was a senior who secured the match win as Steadman's kill gave Towson a 25-21 set win and victory in the match.

 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Tigers secured their second straight win over a first place team on "Senior Day" as last year the Tigers beat James Madison, who was the top team in the CAA standings in their final home match.
• Holehouse led the Tigers with 21 digs, eight assists and four service aces. She recorded the 1,000^th dig of her career in the third set. Holehouse is the 15^th player in program history to reach the mark and just second sophomore.
• The Tiger seniors shined in their final home match. Lewis posted a double-double with a match-high 17 kills and 19 digs. Steadman had 11 kills while hitting .625 and recorded a team-high five blocks. Flaherty finished with four kills, seven digs and a block.
• Lewis' 17 kills gave her 413 kills for the season. She is the 11^th player in school history to record 400 kills in a single-season.
• Sophomore Jocelyn Kuilan finished with 11 kills while Ertz added 10.
• Freshman Marrisa Wonders had her team and CAA leading 18^th double-double of the year with 28 assists and 14 digs.
• Jamie Bredahl led Northeastern with 14 kills and 10 digs while Fry added 11 kills and four blocks.

The Tigers enter the final weekend of the regular season tied for third in the CAA standings, just one game out of first place in the win column. Towson visits William & Mary on Friday, Nov. 11 before traveling to James Madison, on Saturday, Nov. 12.