TOWSON, Md. -- After two home matches a week ago, the Towson University women's volleyball team heads for a southern swing this weekend with showdowns at William & Mary on Friday (7 p.m.) and Elon on Sunday (2 p.m.).

First Serve
The red hot Tigers take the show on the road this weekend for a pair in Virginia and North Carolina as Towson heads to William & Mary Friday night and Elon on Sunday at 7 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.

In The National Rankings
None of the teams involved in this week's matches are mentioned in the AVCA Poll.

Scouting the Tigers
Once again, versatility has led the way for the Tigers as Towson swept both Northeastern and defending champion Hofstra at home last week. Five Tigers have hit triple digits in kills, paced by Emily Jarome's 161 with a team-best 3.04 kills per set. Olivia Finckel is second with 146 kills at a 2.81 per set clip while Annie Ertz has 120 with a 2.45 per-set average. Middles Lydia Wiers (119) and Silvia Grassini (113) round out the top five. In league play, Jarome carries a 3.02 kills per set average while Ertz is nipping at her heels at 3.00. Wiers and Grassini are tied for third at 2.31 kills per set in CAA matches. All that offense runs through the hands of setter Marrisa Wonders, who has 570 assists to date as the primary setter. Libero Camryn Allen is second on the team with 32 helpers. Jarome leads Towson with 18 service aces while Allen is close behind with 16, including a 12-match service ace streak. Defensively, blocking has been Towson's bread and butter this season; the Tigers rank 11th nationally in blocks per set (2.85), led by Wiers' 1.32 and Grassini's 1.17. Finckel is also good for at least a block per set at a 1.12 rate. Towson has out-blocked its opponents 151-102.5 this season. In league play, Grassini has 20 total blocks, notching one more than Wiers. The pair average 1.54 and 1.46 per set, respectively. Finckel and Jarome average 1.08 in CAA matches. The blocking makes for lighter work in the back row as Allen has 200 digs, averaging 3.77 per set. Wonders is set with 124 digs while Ertz and Jarome have 118 apiece. 

Scouting the Tribe (As of Oct. 10)
William & Mary enters Kaplan Arena with a 5-10 overall mark and a 1-3 record in league play. The Tribe split its matches last weekend, topping UNCW in five before being swept by Charleston. Three players are north of 100 kills, paced by Kate Dedrick (150). Lauren Merrill (137) and Julia Brown (127) rank second and third. The trio average better than two kills per set apiece as well. Autumn Brenner is the top server with 19 aces while Merrill has 13. Brenner is the primary setter, hoisting 392 assists this season. Defensively, Brown is the go-to at the net with 65 total blocks and a 1.18 per-set average. She is the only member of the Tribe side with more than 35 blocks. Anna Porter has come up with 191 digs thus far, averaging 3.67 per match. Merrill is second with 121 (2.20 per set).

Towson-William & Mary History
It's a series as old as the Tigers' program as Towson and William & Mary meet for the 43rd time since 1976. Towson controls the all-time series lead at 24-18, thanks in part to its current 10-match winning streak. Towson has swept William & Mary in the last six meetings with seven sweeps in that 10-match stretch. Towson has dominated the series in the colonial city, winning 13 of the 16 matches. The series is tighter in Maryland, where the Tribe leads 9-8. Towson has won its last five matches in Williamsburg. Towson has not dropped a set on the road against the Tribe since the Tigers emerged with a 3-1 victory on Oct. 2, 2015.

Towson-William & Mary By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Towson Leads 24-18
at Towson W&M 9-8
at William & Mary Towson 13-3
at Neutral Sites W&M 5-2
at Unknown Sites Tied 1-1
First Meeting 1976 (Towson 2, W&M 0)
Last Meeting Nov. 4, 2018
Towson 3, William & Mary 0
Streak Towson +10

Last Time Out vs. William & Mary | Nov. 4, 2018 | Towson, Md. | SECU Arena 
Towson leveled its overall record to 14-14 last season after sweeping William & Mary 25-17, 25-20, 25-13. Fourteen different Tigers played in that match at SECU Arena. Emily Jarome led the Tigers with 11 kills while Olivia Finckel tied for second with seven. Towson doubled the Tribe at the net with eight blocks while hitting .329 for the match and limiting William & Mary to a .047 hitting percentage, including a .000 in the third set.

Scouting the Phoenix (As of Oct. 9)
Elon carries an 8-9 overall record and a 3-1 mark into a three-pack of matches this weekend. The Phoenix hosts James Madison on Thursday and Delaware on Saturday before the Tigers roll into Schar Center. Elon's offense is paced by Leah Daniel's 278 kills at a 4.03 per-set rate. Her per-set clip did not fall off once conference play hit; Daniel averages 3.94 kills per set in league play. Kellyn Trowse is second with 183 total kills (2.90) but hits at a .131 rate. Elon splits setting duties between Kodi Garcia and Haylie Clark, who have 389 and 328 assists, respectively. Six members of the Phoenix have double-digit service aces, led by Garcia's 15. Jenn Krzeminski has 65 total blocks, averaging 1.07 per set. 

Towson-Elon By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Towson Leads 11-1
at Towson Towson 6-0
at Elon Towson 5-0
at Neutral Sites Elon 1-0
at Unknown Sites n/a
First Meeting 1998 (Elon 3, Towson 2)
Last Meeting Nov. 2, 2018
Towson 3, Elon 0
Streak Towson +11

Towson-Elon History
The series history between Towson and Elon is not long; the teams first met during the 1998 season. The Phoenix won that first meeting in five sets, but since then it's been all Towson. The Tigers have won the last 11 meetings including four sweeps. Of the 12 previous matches, only two have gone to five sets. The teams are split 1-1 in five setters while Towson is 6-0 in four sets against Elon. Towson won the first-ever meeting between the programs at the Schar Center with a four-set decision on Oct. 4, 2018. 

With a Win Over William & Mary Towson Would...
- Extend its winning streak to nine-straight matches, the longest for the program since the opening the 2017 with a 16-0 mark.
- Win its 11th straight match over the Tribe of William & Mary.
- Improve to 14-3 all-time in Williamsburg against the Tribe.
- Be Towson's fourth-straight win in a true road match and improve the Tigers to 5-1 on the road this season. 
- See Towson improve to 5-0 in league play for the first time since the Tigers went 12-0 in league play in 2012.

Another One
Senior middle blocker Silvia Grassini was selected as the CAA Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Oct. 7. It was her second weekly honor this season and marks a fourth-straight week a Towson student-athlete has earned a CAA weekly award.

Grassini helped Towson to a 2-0 weekend with a pair of sweeps against Northeastern and defending league champion Hofstra. Grassini was in on 10 blocks for the weekend against two high-powered offenses, averaging 1.17 blocks per set. Grassini added a pair of digs as well as committing zero blocking errors. On the offensive side, the senior hit at a .500 percent clip for the weekend, knocking down 15 kills with just two errors on her 26 swings.

Alright, Rookie
Following her first weekend of CAA action, freshman middle blocker Lydia Wiers was selected as the league's Rookie of the Week on Sept. 30.

Wiers helped Towson to a 2-0 mark in league play with a sweep at Delaware along with a four-set win at preseason favorite James Madison. The freshman from Willard, Ohio finished the weekend with 20 kills on 35 total swings, committing just five attack errors. The rookie posted a dozen kills at James Madison on 21 swings with three errors. She hit for .429 in her first league weekend, hitting that number in both matches. Wiers added nine total blocks to her line as well.

Welcome to Our House
The friendly confines of SECU Arena have been kind to the Towson Tigers. Since moving into the new building full time in 2013, Towson has racked up an impressive 59-23 overall record at SECU Arena. The Tigers have three seasons with double digit wins, including a 10-3 mark in 2017. With a challenging home schedule last season, the Tigers went 7-8, but finished strong on a three-match win streak at home. To date, the Tigers are 6-1 in SECU Arena this year.

Ace Up Her Sleeve
Junior libero Camryn Allen doesn't have the biggest serve, but it's effective. Allen is second on the team in service aces this season, dropping in 16 through 16 matches. More impressive, is the current tear Allen is on; the 5-7 defensive specialist has logged at least one ace in each of the Tigers' last 12 matches. She is the only player in the CAA to rack up at least 10 matches this season with at least one service ace.

The Law Firm of Finckel, Grassini and Wiers
If you've been hurt by a block this season, chances are it's from Olivia Finckel, Silvia Grassini or Lydia Wiers. Towson is the only team in the CAA to have three players ranked in the top five in blocks per set. Wiers, the rookie, leads the conference with a 1.32 per-set average, deadlocked with Grassini in second at a 1.17 average. Finckel is fifth in the league at a 1.12 clip. James Madison is the only other CAA program with multiple players averaging over a block per set this season.

Stuck in the Middle With You
The Tigers are boasting a one-two punch in the middle this season between freshman Lydia Wiers and senior Silvia Grassini. The pair are ranked first and second, respectively, in the CAA in hitting percentage. Grassini leads the league at a .423 percentage, scoring 113 kills on 213 swings with 23 errors. Wiers is second with a .419 hitting percentage on 119 kills, 222 attempts and 26 errors. Towson is the only program in the league with multiple players in the top five. 

Getcha Brooms Out
The Tigers are a perfect 12-0 in three-set matches this season, sweeping Hofstra (25-15, 25-15, 25-21) on Sunday. Under head coach Don Metil, the Tigers are 81-25 in three-setters and have had double-digit sweeps in each of the last six seasons. Towson's highwater mark for sweeps was a 15-2 mark in the 2014 campaign. Towson has already surpassed its winning sweep mark from last season after going 10-6 in three set matches in 2018.

All-Time CAA Openers
Friday saw Towson open its 18th season in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The fact that the league opener was Delaware was very apropos as well. Towson and Delaware have long been league foes, dating back to the East Coast Conference, which later became the America East Conference. Since joining the CAA in 2002, Towson is now 14-4 in conference lid-lifters. Under head coach Don Metil, Towson is 5-2 in the first CAA match of the year, including winning the last four.

Wins on Wins on Wins on Wins
Over the last five seasons, the Tigers have been a tough out for opponents. Between 2014-18, the Tigers have racked up a 121-41 overall record, which ranks 19th among NCAA Division I teams in terms of total wins in that span. With a winning percentage of .747 over the last five years, Towson ranks 22nd among fellow Division I teams in terms of winning percentage.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
This fall, the Towson Tigers will check off each animal on the fabled list from the Wizard of Oz. Towson faced the Bears of Morgan Saturday on Aug. 31 before sweepings Tigers of a different color against Princeton (Sept. 7). Towson will face Hofstra, which uses lions for its mascots, once more (Oct. 27) after a sweep on Oct. 6. To date, Towson is 3-0 against the Wizard of Oz.

Tigers in the Community
The Towson University athletics department deems community service as one of its highest priorities to give back to the Greater Baltimore area.
- For the 7th consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season.
- Towson ranked #1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition.
- Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations.
- Towson won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.