TOWSON, Md. -- After spending the first two weeks of October on the road, the Towson University women's volleyball team returns home to SECU Arena this weekend for a pair of Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) matches.

On Friday, Oct. 12, the Tigers take on UNCW at 7 p.m. followed by a busy Sunday. On Oct. 14, the Tigers will participate in the Autism Awareness Walk at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium before hosting the College of Charleston at SECU Arena for a noon start.

Admission to Sunday's match will be free of charge and those participating in the Autism Awareness Walk are encouraged to watch Sunday's match as the Tigers sport their blue Autism jerseys for the duration of the match.

First Serve
After three matches on the road and coming out with a 2-1 mark in that stretch, the Tigers return home to SECU Arena for their final pair of home matches in the month of October.

In The National Rankings
Neither team was ranked nor mentioned in the polls this week.

Scouting the Homecoming Tigers
The Tigers leveled their CAA record last weekend with a 3-0 sweep at William & Mary. It rounded out a 2-0 week for Towson as the Tigers knocked back Elon 3-1 last Thursday. It's a neck-and-neck race for 200 kills for Towson this season as Jocelyn Kuilan leads the team with 195, but rookie Emily Jarome is right behind with 193. Jarome leads the team with a 2.84 kills per set average while Kuilan knocks down 2.75 per frame. Last weekend, Olamide Sonuga joined the 100 kill club, bringing her season total to 101. Silvia Grassini has the team's top swing percentage as she hits at a .346 percent clip, scoring 108 kills on 246 attempts with 23 errors. Marrisa Wonders hit the 300 assist mark against the Tribe as Kristen Spengler is second with 286 helpers. With Spengler sidelined, Peyton Moyles has stepped in to set and has 68 dishes in 14 sets played, averaging 4.86 per. On the defensive side, Anna Holehouse nears the 400-dig mark as she has 367 to date. She averages 5.17 digs per set, ranking third in the CAA in average while ranking first in total digs. At the net, Sonuga has turned aside 61 opponent attempts this season, including 55 assisted stops. Grassini is second with 55 total blocks, 52 of which have been assisted. At the back line, Holehouse has dropped in 14 service aces this season, while three teammates, Grassini, Kuilan and Annie Ertz, have all scored a dozen aces. Four Tigers, Finckel, Grassini, Holehouse and Kuilan have played in all 71 sets to date for Towson.

Scouting the Road-Swinging Seahawks
The Seahawks enter Friday's action on a two-match winning streak after taking down Northeastern 3-1 and Hofstra 3-2 last week. With the impacts of Hurricane Florence, UNCW has been playing its home matches at Cape Fear Academy. Friday's match will be the Seahawks' first action away from North Carolina this month. Offensively, Maddy Kline leads UNCW with 135 kills, averaging 2.76 per set. Halle Hunt is close behind with 112 kills while Anna Moss is third with 103. Moss has the best hitting percentage among players with at least 20 attempts, swinging at a .319 percent clip. Brynn Montgomery is the top feeder, putting up 263 assists while Michaela White is second with 230. Kline is the Seahawks' top serving threat as she has scored 17 aces. UNCW ranks fourth in the CAA in service aces per set, averaging 1.52 per game. Three Seahawks have at least 100 digs, paced by Katie McCullough's 192. Kline is second with 128 while Montgomery ranks third with 106. Kendall Bender leads UNCW at the net with 66 total blocks, including a team-best eight solo stops.

Towson-UNCW History
Friday's matchup will be the 39th meeting all-time between the programs. Towson leads the series 29-8, aided by an active five-match winning streak. Last season's matches went at least four sets, including a five-setter on Nov. 4 in which the Tigers edged out a 3-2 win with a 15-11 fifth set. Towson won the first 12 CAA matches between the two squads from 2002-09, a run that included 10 Tiger sweeps.

Towson-UNCW By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record 29-8
at Towson Towson 18-1
at UNCW Towson 10-5
at Neutral Sites UNCW 2-1
at Unknown Sites n/a
First Meeting 1979 - Towson 2, UNCW 0
Last Meeting Nov. 4, 2017
Towson 3, UNCW 2 - Towson, Md.
Streak Towson +5

Last Time Out vs. UNCW | Nov. 4, 2017 | Towson, Md. | SECU Arena
Down 2-0, the Tigers rallied back and ripped off three-straight games to claim a 3-2 win over the Seahawks at SECU Arena in the final match between the two last season. The Tigers hit for just .104 in the first two sets before swinging at a .327 percent clip in the final three sets to win the match. Five players for Towson had double-digit kills, led by 19 from Jocelyn Kuilan. Current Tigers Silvia Grassini and Olamide Sonuga posted 13 kills each. Kuilan, Grassini, Sonuga and Annie Ertz all had two block assists in the come-from-behind victory. Anna Holehouse finished with a match-high 25 digs while Marrisa Wonders chipped in a double-double of 20 digs and 38 assists.

Scouting the Cougars (as of Oct. 11)
Charleston enters the weekend with a 13-7 overall record and sitting at 4-2 in the CAA as the defending conference champions. Charleston is an even 2-2 on the road this season, with a Friday night showdown at James Madison pending. The Cougars and Dukes meet at 7 p.m. in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Kennedy Madison leads a high-powered Cougar offense that features three players with 200-plus kills. Madison's pace Charleston while Devon Rachel has put down 235 kills, ahead of Lauren Freed's 202 kills. Madison also leads Charleston with a .334 attack percentage. Four Charleston players have at least 15 service aces, led by Allison Beckman and her 19 perfect serves. McKala Rhodes has 257 digs this season, averaging 3.47 per set. Rachel is second with 191 digs at a 2.85 per set rate. Madison leads Charleston at the net with 51 total blocks, 12 of which are solo blocks. She averages .73 blocks per set in her 70 games played.

Towson-Charleston History
Sunday's showdown will be the 12th meeting all-time between the Tigers and the Cougars. Eleven of the previous meetings have been in league play as Charleston joined the CAA for the 2013 season. The Cougars lead the all-time series 9-2 and are riding a four-match winning streak. Towson is hunting its first win over Charleston since a clean week at home on Sept. 30, 2015. The teams met just once as non-league foes, a 3-0 Cougar win in South Carolina in 2007.

Towson-Charleston By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Charleston Leads 2-9
at Towson Charleston 4-1
at Charleston 5-1
at Neutral Sites n/a
at Unknown Sites n/a
First Meeting 2007 - Charleson 3, Towson 0
Last Meeting Nov. 3, 2017
Charleston 3, Towson 1 (Towson, Md.)
Streak Towson -4

Last Time Out vs. Charleston | Nov. 3, 2017 | Towson, Md. | SECU Arena
The Tigers and Cougars split the first two sets last season at SECU Arena, but the visiting side won the last two sets in decisive fashion, taking 25-16 and 25-11 set wins. Towson struggled on the attack all night, unaided by nine Charleston blocks. Jocelyn Kuilan and Olivia Finckel paced Towson with 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Kuilan hit for .290 in the match. Silvia Grassni gave Towson a chance at the net as she capped the night with five block assists. Charleston singled out Annie Ertz on the backline, serving her 38 times, but the Wisconsonite had just one reception error in the match. Devon Rachel led Charleston with 16 kills, one ahead of Krissy Mummey's 15.

With a Win Friday Towson Would...
- Win its third-straight CAA match after downing Elon (3-1) and William & Mary (3-0) last weekend.
- Extend its winning streak over the Seahawks to six-straight, the second-longest winning streak in series history.
- Snap a two-match slide at home against CAA opponents this season.
- Improve to 4-2 over East Coast schools located south of Maryland, adding to wins over Miami (3-0), Elon (3-1) and William & Mary (3-0). Towson suffered defeats against James Madison (3-1) and Radford (3-2).

2,000 Digs
Early in the Tigers' first set at James Madison, redshirt senior libero Anna Holehouse became the first player in Towson history to post 2,000 digs. She finished with match with 20 digs, bringing her career total to 2,040. She is also the seventh player in CAA history to reach the 2,000 digs mark. She trails Hofstra's Kylee Maneja's mark of 2,044 for sixth all-time in league history. To date, Holehouse has 367 digs in 2018. She needs another 361 digs to overtake the league's all-time record of 2,401, held by Delaware's Stephanie Barry.

The 20 Club
This season, six Towson players have put up a combined 28 matches in which a Tiger hits at least 20 in a respective category. Anna Holehouse leads The 20 Club with 11 matches with at least 20 digs, followed by six 20-assist matches from Kristin Spengler. Marrisa Wonders too has six 20-assist matches while rookie Emily Jarome has two matches with at least 20 kills. Olivia Finckel and Peyton Moyles joined The 20 Club as the former put down 20 kills at James Madison while Moyles handed out 27 assists. Thursday night saw Jocelyn Kuilan hit 20 kills for the first time this season in a 3-1 win over Elon.

Sunday's Busy Schedule
Sunday will be a busy day for the Tigers. Beginning at 9 a.m., the Tigers will help Towson University in hosting the 2018 Autism Awareness Walk at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium. Following the Autism Awareness Walk, the Tigers will cross the street to SECU Arena and take on defending CAA Champion College of Charleston with a noon first serve. Admission to Sunday's crucial league matchup is free of charge and Autism Awareness Walk participants are encouraged to take in Towson volleyball as the Tigers will sport their blue Autism jerseys for the duration of Sunday's showdown.

Kuilan Named CAA Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 8)
Kuilan had a strong showing in the Tigers' 2-0 week. Kuilan put down 30 total kills, including 20 Thursdays night at Elon in a 3-1 victory, her first 20-kill performance of the season. For the week, Kuilan hit for .407, including .429 at Elon. The senior dropped in four service aces on the week as well. She Kuilan added three block assists to her weekend as well.

Jarome Named NewDay USA Female Student-Athlete of the Week (Oct. 9)
Jarome had a good showing on the road last weekend, leading Towson to a 2-0 mark. The freshman put down 18 total kills on 48 swings, hitting for .229 in the pair of league games. She had her best outing of the weekend in the Tigers' clean sweep of William & Mary, hitting .476 with 11 kills on 21 swings. She added two service aces in the 3-1 win at Elon Thursday night while posting 12 digs across the two games.

Kuilan's Big Swing
Senior Jocelyn Kuilan is firmly one of the top offensive players in program history. The right sider has knocked down 1,368 kills in her career at Towson, ranking fourth all-time and is the sixth player in program history with at least 1,300 kills. In the Tigers' sweep of William & Mary, Kuilan surpassed Val Davis's mark of 1,365 (1987-89). April Hoffman (2002-05) leads the career records with 1,588 kills. Kuilan averages 391 kills per season, including a rookie season with 426. Kuilan will need 230 kills to take the program's career record. Kuilan continues to climb in the program's all-time sets played list. She has seen time in 434 sets, ranking among the top 20. The program's all-time mark is 481 sets played by Lindsey Flaherty (2013-16).