STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Towson University volleyball team's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory was a thriller, winning a five-set match vs. American (25-23, 15-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-12) to advance to the second round.
 
Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champion Towson (29-2) was down 7-5 to Patriot League champion American (24-8) in the fifth set.  The Tigers rallied with a 5-0 run, then the set tied again at 12-12.  Towson earned the final three points, including kills from Lydia Wiers and Olivia Finckel, to win the tiebreaker 15-12 and take the five-set victory.
 
Towson now advances to the NCAA Second Round and will play the victor of No. 11 Penn State-Princeton tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at Rec Hall in University Park, Pennsylvania.
 
Key Game Stats:

• Baltimore's own Olivia Finckel earned a career-high 23 kills, hitting .362 in the match, including five kills in the tiebreaker set.  The senior added five blocks and six digs.
• Marrisa Wonders earned a double-double off 49 assists and 15 digs, adding a pair of kills.  Lydia Wiers hit .333 with 11 kills and six blocks, notching a trio of kills in the fifth.  Silvia Grassini, Emily Jarome and Annie Ertz had eight kills each while Camryn Allen picked up 11 digs at libero.
• As a team, Towson hit .216 with 61 kills, adding 65 digs and 11.5 blocks.  The Tigers held American to .111 hitting in the tiebreaker set.
• For the Eagles, Zeynep Uzen led the team with a double-double of 19 kills and 11 digs.  Setter Olivia Wassner also had a double-double on 48 assists and 17 digs.
• Towson has earned its second postseason victory in the last three seasons, winning a National Invitational Volleyball Championship match against Colgate in 2017.
• This was Towson's first five-set victory of the season in its second tiebreaker match of 2019.
• Towson now has four players with over 250 kills on the year, with Wiers surpassing that mark today.  She joins Jarome, Finckel and Ertz with over 250 kills on the season.

How it Happened:

• In set one, Towson used a couple of early Olivia Finckel kills to lead 5-3.  American took the lead on a 3-0 run, then Towson countered with four of the next five points to go back up 9-7.  After a kill by American, the Tigers scored three straight, sandwiched by a kill and solo block by Lydia Wiers, for a 12-8 advantage.  American called a timeout and responded with three in a row, but Towson held the lead with a Finckel kill, then a team triple block.  American got to a tie on another 3-0 streak at 15-15.  Back and forth the teams battled, trading points until at 19-19, two kills from Aleksandra Sochacka gave the Eagles a 21-19 advantage.  Kills from Emily Jarome and Finckel tied the set as the exchanges resumed.  At 23-22, following a Towson timeout, Annie Ertz powered two kills through blocks to give the Tigers set point.  Kristin Spengler subbed into the front row and delivered the set-winning kill.  Towson took set one 25-23.
• Set two saw American ride the serving of Olivia Wassner and Chiara Bosetti to a 9-1 lead.  Towson tried to chip away at the deficit: kills from Finckel helped the Tigers pull within six at 13-7.  The teams kept exchanging points, despite blocks from Jarome and Wiers, as American held a strong advantage the rest of the way and won set two 25-15.
• Towson regrouped for set three and began with a 3-0 run off a kill and serves from Jarome.  At 3-2, a kill and block from Finckel rebuilt the lead to three as Towson kept a small lead in the early going.  American got to within one a couple of times on kills from Sochacka, then at 9-8, again Jarome got a kill then stepped back to serve, adding an American attack error and then a service ace for a 12-8 Tiger lead.  Two Eagle kills made it 12-10; Towson again countered with five of the following six points, including two blocks from Silvia Grassini, to surge ahead 17-11.  Kills from four different players brought American to within three at 19-16.  Towson got back up by four with a Jarome kill, then the Eagles rallied to tie at 20-20.  Finckel's 13^th kill stopped the run, then American tied the game again.  Again Finckel came through with a kill as Camryn Allen went back to serve and continued the run to 3-0 to give Towson set point.  After a kill from American, Finckel buried the ball to the floor for the kill and the game.  Towson won 25-22 and took a 2-1 lead in the match.
• Wassner served American through a 5-0 run for a 5-1 Eagles start in set four.  More kills from Finckel helped get the deficit down to three at 8-5, but American took the following five points to go up 13-5.  Coach Don Metil called a timeout and Towson regrouped, beginning with a Grassini kill.  Grassini followed with strong serving as Towson put together a 12-0 run, including two service aces and kills from Wiers, Marrisa Wonders and Jarome, to speed ahead 17-13.  American fought back with five consecutive points to retake the lead, then Towson got back up off an American attack error and a Finckel-Wiers combo block.  A 3-0 run off Wassner's serving sent the designated away team back ahead.  Towson got a point back, but kills from Asli Celikkol and Zeynep Uzen set up set point at 24-20.  Towson looked for a final comeback, using kills from Finckel and Ertz to stave off two chances, but a Uzen kill gave the set to American 25-22, forcing a tiebreaker set.
• Finckel got the set started with a hard crosscourt kill for Towson, then, after an American kill, got another for her 20^th.  Towson added another point on an American attack error for a 3-1 lead.  Back-and-forth the squads went until at 5-3, a Uzen kill started a 4-0 run for American as the Eagles led 7-5.  Kills by Jarome and Wonders tied the set back up at seven.  American got the lead on a block, then Towson struck back with a Wiers kill, Wonders ace, Finckel kill, another Wiers kill and a failed dump kill attempt by American in succession to go back ahead 12-8.  American had another rally in it, again off Wassner's serve, to tie the set at 12-12.  Wiers hit a kill through the block to give Towson back the lead, then Finckel hit a kill in the corner to give the Tigers match point.  American hit an attack out, giving Towson the 15-12 victory and match win 3-2.

Up Next:
Towson now awaits the winner of No. 11 Penn State-Princeton in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  Match is set for Saturday, Dec. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Rec Hall in University Park, Pennsylvania.
 
- TowsonTigers.com –