TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University volleyball team (6-9, 1-1 CAA) rallied with a dominant fourth set to force a tiebreaker, but fell to Northeastern (8-7, 1-1 CAA) in five sets (25-21, 24-26, 15-25, 25-13, 8-15) in its second match in as many days.
 
Key Match Stats:

• Down two sets to one, Towson finished the fourth set with a 15-4 run, including kills from five different Tigers, to send the match into the tiebreak.  Northeastern started set five with an 8-1 streak and held the lead the rest of the way.
• Emily Jerome earned a career-high 23 kills, hitting .375, with six digs and two blocks.  Jocelyn Kuilan tied her season-high of kills with 15 on a .321 hitting percentage, adding five digs and two blocks.  At setter, Kristin Spengler notched a double-double off 22 assists and a career-high 14 digs.
• As a team, Towson hit .235, including at least .311 in sets it won.  Northeastern had a .268 hitting percentage, going above .333 in games the Huskies took.
• For Northeastern, Athena Ardila and Hanna Boyd each had 16 kills.  Gabrielle Tschannen hit .500 for 14 kills and three blocks.
• This was Towson's second match in as many days, coming off a three-set victory over rival Delaware on Friday night.
• In the third set, Towson went to its Autism Awareness blue jerseys for the rest of the match.

How it Happened:

• Down 6-4 early in the first set, Towson saw Annie Ertz serve through a 4-0 run, including two kills from Jarome, to take the lead by two.  Northeastern retook the lead at 13-11, helped by a pair of kills from Tschannen.  Following a kill from Olamide Sonuga, Anna Holehouse served for four more Towson points, aided by two Kuilan kills, to make it 16-13 Towson.  Again the Huskies pushed back, getting a tie score at 20-20.  Kills from Sonuga and Jarome put the lead back to Towson, then after a Northeastern point, Towson finished on a 3-0 run as the Tigers took the set 25-21.
• Kills from three different Tigers sent Towson to an early 7-3 lead in set two.  Ardila had three kills in a 4-0 Northeastern streak to tie the set, then Towson blocked her twice, adding a Jarome kill, to go back ahead by three at 11-8, holding the advantage until 16-16.  Towson rebuilt the lead to four at 21-17, capped by a pair of kills by Kuilan.  The Huskies got the lead with a 6-1 sprint, stopped by a Sonuga kill.  The teams went back and forth to get to 24-24, but Northeastern took the next two to win the set 26-24 and even the match. 
• The third game started about even, with a Silvia Grassini kill tying the set at 4-4.  Northeastern took a small lead as Towson used Jarome kills to keep the deficit close at 10-8.  At 12-9 Northeastern, the Huskies got eight of the next nine points to go up by 10.  Three late kills from Jarome were not enough as Towson fell in the set 25-15.  Northeastern had a 2-1 lead in the match.
• Towson took advantage of four errors by the Huskies to have an early 5-2 lead in the fourth set.  Northeastern got to 10-9 later.  Towson charged ahead with two blocks and three kills in a 6-1 run to go up 16-10.  After two points by the opposition, the Tigers finished strong off the serving of Camryn Allen and Grassini, winning nine of the final 10 points, including seven kills, to take the fourth set 25-13 and send the match into five.
• Serving from Tschannen and Clare Lund helped Northwestern begin set five up 8-1.  After a Husky service error, Jarome and Grassini combined to block two straight attacks to try to spur on a comeback.  The Tigers had late kills from Olivia Finckel and Sonuga but could not bridge the gap, falling to the Huskies 15-8.  Northeastern took the match in five.

Up Next:
Towson returns to SECU Arena to take on CAA foe Hofstra on Monday night at 7 p.m.  The Pride fell in its CAA opener in five at James Madison on Saturday night, standing 10-5 overall.
 
- TowsonTigers.com –