TOWSON, Md. -- For the first time in three weeks, the Towson University women's volleyball team will play a match not on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday when the Tigers head to Dover, Delaware for a non-league match Wednesday night at Delaware State University. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at the Hornets' Memorial Hall.

First Serve
The Tigers hit the middle of a five-match road swing Wednesday night with Towson's first trip to the First State to take on the Hornets of Delaware State University.

In The National Rankings
This week's teams were neither ranked nor mentioned in the polls this week.

Scouting the Tigers
The Tigers continue their road ways following a split weekend in the northern tier of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) last weekend, getting by Hofstra 3-2 before falling in five on Sunday at Northeastern. It's a neck-and-neck race for the team lead in kills as senior Jocelyn Kuilan leads with 243 while rookie Emily Jarome has kept it close with 240 to date. The latter leads in kills per set with 2.79 while Kuilan averages 2.73 per frame. Just one attack attempt separates the two hitters. Junior Marrisa Wonders leads Towson's assist efforts, putting up 393 as she closes in on 400 for a third-straight season. She has put up at least 20 helpers in each of the Tigers' last six matches. Five Tigers have at least 10 service aces this season, led by 20 from redshirt senior Anna Holehouse. Junior Silvia Grassini has put up 16 perfect serves, one ahead of classmate Annie Ertz. Jarome and Kuilan have 14 and 13, respectively. Holehouse continues her strong play on the back line, entering the midweek match with 443 digs. She is on a career-best pace with 4.98 digs per set in 2018 as she looks to eclipse the 500-dig mark for a third season. At the net, senior Olamide Sonuga leads Towson with 77 total blocks, assisting on 70 stuffs. Grassini is second with 70 blocks while junior Olivia Finckel has a team-best nine solo stops in her 68 total blocks. Sonuga has just two block errors on the season while putting down 125 kills. Grassini has the team's best hitting percentage at .346. Grassini, Finckel, Kuilan and Holehouse have played in all 89 sets this year.

Scouting the Hornets (as of Oct. 23)
Delaware State enters Wednesday's match with a 2-21 overall record, falling in four sets on Oct. 16 against La Salle. The hornets are hunting their first win since a 3-0 sweep of South Carolina State on Sept. 21. Mayah Ngundam leads the way for Delaware State with 166 total kills, averaging 2.16 per set this season. Caroline Rakoski ranks second in total kills with 129 at a 1.68 per set clip. Milexa Cardona is the team's top server, putting up 27 service aces. Leimaluhia Taula and Devin Ruble are also north of 20 services with 22 and 20, respectively. Taula is the team's top defender with 241 digs to date, averaging 3.13 per set. Nia Scott is second with 165 digs. At the net, Ngundam is the top blocker with 39 total stops, averaging 0.51 per set. Kiera Holtzclaw is second in total blocks with 35, including a team-best seven solo blocks. Delaware State and Towson have played three common opponents to date, Missouri, James Madison and La Salle. Wednesday's match will be the seventh home contest for the Hornets this season.

Towson-Delaware State History
Wednesday' midweek matchup will be the ninth meeting all-time between Towson and Delaware State. The Tigers have won the previous eight meetings, including a 3-0 sweep in the most recent showdown on Oct. 11, 2016. Wednesday's match will be Towson's first trip to Dover since Sept. 17, 2013, a 3-2 Tiger win in Towson head coach Don Metil's first season at the helm. Those two sets, the second and third, are the only two sets Towson has dropped against Delaware State in series history.

Towson-Delaware State By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Towson Leads 8-0
at Towson Towson 4-0
at Delaware State Towson 2-0
at Neutral Sites Towson 2-0
at Unknown Sites n/a
First Meeting 1990 - Towson, 3, DSU 0
Last Meeting Oct. 11, 2016
Towson 3, Delaware State 0
Streak Towson +8

Last Time Out vs. Delaware State | Oct. 11, 2016 | Towson, Md. | SECU Arena
In the last meeting between the Tigers and the Hornets, Towson came away with a 3-0 win while keeping Delaware State below 10 points in all three sets. The Tigers won 25-8, 25-9, 25-6. Nineteen different Tigers played in that match as Lindsay Flaherty led Towson with eight kills. Annie Ertz added seven in her rookie season. Anna Holehouse finished with nine digs while Nur Shur posted seven. Towson had four total blocks as Flaherty had one of two solo blocks in the match. Delaware State was led by three kills each from Kalena Wiggins and Jae Jackson.

With a Win Wednesday Towson Would...
- Win its fifth match in its last seven outings.
- Collect a third win in its last four nonconference matches, including a 3-2 win over UMBC in its last non-league match on Sept. 15.
- Improve to 9-0 all-time against Delaware State, dating back to the first match in the series during the 1990 campaign.
- Win its second road match in the last three chances after splitting on the road last weekend.

You Look Familar...
Wednesday's match will be a showdown between a former student-athlete and a head coach as Towson's Don Metil lines up against protégé in Whitney Johnson, Delaware State's head coach. The pair shared three seasons at Maryland Eastern Shore with Metil at the helm and Johnson playing as an outside hitter. Together the pair helped Maryland Eastern Shore three-straight 20-plus win seasons.

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 2,116. She is also the seventh player in CAA history to reach the 2,000 digs mark. She trails James Madison's Jena Pierson (2,189) for third all-time in league history. To date, Holehouse has 443 digs in 2018. She needs another 285 digs to overtake the league's all-time record of 2,401, held by Delaware's Stephanie Barry.

Kuilan's Big Swing
Senior Jocelyn Kuilan is firmly one of the top offensive players in program history. The right sider has knocked down 1,416 kills in her career at Towson, ranking third all-time and is the sixth player in program history with at least 1,300 kills. In the Tigers' five set win at Hofstra, Kuilan surpassed Liz Goubeaux's mark of 1,404 (2001-04). 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 172 kills to take the program's career record.

Sets on Sets on Sets on Sets
Two Tigers in their final seasons are climbing the program's all-time sets played list. Jocelyn Kuilan has seen time in 455 sets since stepping on the court for the first time in 2015. Kuilan ranks seventh all-time in program history. Redshirt senior Anna Holehouse has seen action in 442 sets, ranking 12th. Lindsay Flaherty ranks first all-time with 481 career sets played. With at least three sets scheduled for Wednesday, Kuilan could move into fourth all-time in program history, leap frogging Stacy Humphries (456), Lia Kaltreider (457) and Paige Sekerak (457).

Jarome Named CAA Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 15)
Emily Jarome played all eight sets for the Tigers this weekend as Towson went 1-1 in CAA action. The freshman scored 24 kills, including 17 on Friday against the Seahawks of UNCW as Towson extended its winning streak over UNCW to six. She posted her first career double-double with 10 digs against UNCW while posting another five on Sunday against Charleston. Jarome added three assists and two block assists on the week as well.

Tigers in the Community
Oct. 14 was a busy day for the Tigers. Beginning at 9 a.m., the Tigers helped Towson University in hosting the 2018 Autism Awareness Walk at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium. Following the Autism Awareness Walk, the Tigers crossed the street to SECU Arena to face defending CAA Champion College of Charleston with a noon first serve. AThe Tigers sported their blue Autism jerseys for the duration of Sunday's showdown.