TOWSON, Md. -- It's a return home for the 2019 Towson University women's volleyball team as the Tigers get off the road this weekend for the Towson Invitational. Six matches will be hosted at SECU Arena between Friday and Saturday.

First Serve
It's the penultimate weekend of invitationals for the Towson University women's volleyball team, but this time it's the Tigers chance to host as the Black & Gold welcome in Youngstown State, Coastal Carolina and UAlbany to SECU Arena.

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

Scouting the Tigers
Towson continues its strong start to the 2019 season, going 2-1 at the Rutgers Invitational last weekend. The Tigers fell 3-1 to the eventual champions, Rutgers, before knocking off Virginia (3-1) and Princeton (3-0). Towson's offense is led by the versatile Olivia Finckel, who averages 3.53 kills per set. Sophomore Emily Jarome is second with a 2.85 average. On the block, Towson is led by rookie Lydia Wiers, who has 19 total stops this season, just shy of a block-per-set average. Finckel has 18 stops while linemate Silvia Grassini has 17. Junior libero Camryn Allen racks up 3.45 digs per set this season, coming up with 69 digs in her 20 sets played. Senior setter Marrisa Wonders has done yeoman's work this season, posting 224 assists and averaging over 11 assists per set. Jarome leads Towson's efforts at the service line, putting down 10 service aces to date, already one-third of the way to her rookie season total. As a team, Towson has posted 31 service aces this season, averaging over an ace per set. The Tigers have played just 20 sets this season. As a team, Towson has the best defense in the CAA, limiting opponents' hitting percentages to a combined .132. Delaware is second in the league at .147. Towson has the second-best kills per set average in the league at 13.45, trailing only Delaware's 13.65. The Tigers are one of four teams in the CAA to average better than two blocks per set, ranking third in the league at 2.30 per frame.

Scouting the Penguins
Youngstown State enters SECU Arena with a 4-3 overall record, dropping its last three matches to Cornell (3-0), Hartford (3-0) and Kent State (3-2). Brooklen Pe'a paces the Penguins' offense attack with a 3.12 kills per set average with 81 finishers across 26 sets played. Aleah Hughes (2.62) and Alyssa Oswald (2.21) are second and third, respectively. Alexia Byrnes is the primary setter for Youngstown State, hoisting 233 assists for an 8.96 per-set average. Pe'a leads the Penguins with eight service aces, two ahead of Hughes, who leads the team with 3.35 digs per set. Margaux Thompson (3.19) and Pe'a (3.08) are also north of three digs per set. Aimee Beaupre paces the Penguins with 0.75 assists per set.

Towson-Youngstown State History
It's a nonexistent history between the Tigers and the Penguins as Friday will be the first-ever meeting between the program's. 

Towson-Youngstown State By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record First Meeting
at Towson  n/a
at Youngstown State n/a
at Neutral Sites n/a
at Unknown Sites n/a
First Meeting Sept. 13, 2019
Last Meeting n/a
n/a
Streak n/a

Last Time Out vs. Youngstown State
First Meeting

Scouting the Chanticleers
Coastal Carolina enters the weekend with an unblemished record in six matches to date, sweeping the first five before topping East Tennessee State University in five last weekend. Anett Nemeth leads the Chanticleers with 3.64 kills per set while Mariia Levanova leads in total kills with 58 and a 3.22 per-set average. Brigitta Petrenko is the primary setter, leading with 201 assists (10.05 per set). She is the only Chanticleer to play in every set to date in 2019 while leading in service aces (10) as well. Ilse Sinnige leads the way with 18 total blocks, averaging one per set.  Christiana Nance paces Coastal with 1.36 blocks per set.

Towson-Coastal Carolina History
Friday's night cap will be the first-ever meeting between the Tigers and the Chanticleers.

Scouting the Great Danes
UAlbany comes to town with a 1-5 overall record, falling in straight sets last weekend to Kansas, UCF and South Carolina in Orlando, Florida. Akuabata Okenwa leads the Danes' attack with 3.32 kills per set and leads the overall count with 73. Grace Cozad is second with a 2.60 kills per set average. On the block, Danielle Tedesco paces UAlbany with 21 total blocks and a 0.95 per-set average. Malea Stanton runs the offense, posting 181 assists to date, racking up 8.23 assists per set. Cozad leads the way on the service line with eight aces, averaging an ace every two sets. Anna Chalupa is the top defensive player on the back row, logging 81 digs to date and averaging 3.68 per set. Cozad is close behind with 48 total digs and a 3.20 per-set average. 

Towson-UAlbany History
Saturday afternoon will be the third-ever meeting between the programs and the first as nonconference opponents. The Tigers and Great Danes have clashed twice, both during the 2001 regular season with UAlbany entering the America East Conference with the Tigers on their way out the next year for the CAA. Towson leads the series 2-0 and has never dropped a set to the Great Danes.

With a Win Over Youngstown State Towson Would...
- Win its second match over an Ohio-based school in the last three tries, topping Xavier but falling to Ohio State last season.
- Open the 2019 home slate with a win, the first time doing that since 2017 with a sweep of Cal State Fullerton.
- Extend the Tigers' home winning streak to four after capping 2018's home schedule with three-straight league wins.
- Improve Towson's record at SECU Arena under Don Metil to 54-22.

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 53-22 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.

Back-to-Back
This weekend kicks off the first of two-straight weekends the Tigers will hold it down at SECU Arena. After the Towson Invitational, the Black & Gold will host the Tiger Invitational, welcoming in Loyola, New Hampshire and NJIT.

Finckel Named Rutgers Invitational All-Tournament
For the weekend, Finckel logged 39 kills at a 3.55 per-set rate. She posted two service aces, while working at the net for nine assisted blocks, getting up at nearly one per set. Finckel added 14 digs over the three matches as well. 

The 6-foot, 2-inch hitter had her top performance against Virginia, helping Towson knock off an ACC opponent for a third-straight season. In that match, she had 13 kills on 28 swings with five errors for a .286 hitting percentage. She finished with five digs and two blocks against the Cavaliers.

She's a Freshman
After a strong performance to open her intercollgiate career, freshman Lydia Wiers was one of three Tigers named to the Morgan State Invitational All-Tournament Team. She was joined by senior Annie Ertz and sophomore Emily Jarome. Additionally, Wiers was tabbed as the Most Valuable Player after going 21 kills at a .529 rate and nine blocks.

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.

Bring Balance to the Force
Despite graduating some record-setting seniors a year ago, the Tigers return in 2019 with a strong balance of experience and youth. The Tigers return five seniors to the court this year, along with seven true freshmen. Included in the fold will be two juniors and seven sophomores, including two transfers. 

The ACC Won't Let Me Be Me
The night cap on Friday, Sept. 6 was the sixth time under head coach Don Metil that the Tigers will square up with an opponent from ACC. Under Metil, the Tigers are now 3-3 against the league, topping Virginia 3-1 at the Rutgers Invitational, The Tigers have won their last three matches against the ACC, with two wins over Virginia and a sweep of Miami last season. In 2017, Towson went 1-1, sweeping Virginia before falling 3-0 against Syracuse in the NIVC Tournament in Hamilton, New York In Metil's first season at Towson (2013), the Tigers fell in both matches against ACC opponents NC State and Virginia Tech, both going to four sets.

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 twice (Oct. 6, Oct. 27), which uses lions for its mascots. To date, Towson is 2-0 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.