PITTSBURGH – The Towson University volleyball team rallied to grab set two and gave a strong challenge to No. 15 Penn State in the NCAA Tournament First Round, falling in four sets (11-25, 27-25, 20-25, 21-25) to conclude the 2021 campaign.
 
Towson (26-5) led in each of the final three sets against Penn State (21-10), winning the second to tie the match and pushing in the final two in Pittsburgh. 
 
With the defeat, Towson's season comes to a close.  The Tigers have won the last three Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championships and have a combined record of 61-9 the last three seasons.
 
Key Stats:

• Towson held Penn State to under .170 hitting in the second and fourth sets.
• Nina Cajic nearly notched a double-double in the match, hitting .333 with a team-high 10 kills, adding seven digs.  Irbe Lazda had nine kills and a pair of blocks while Emily Jarome also was just shy of a double-double on eight kills and 16 digs.  Lydia Wiers led all players with seven blocks, adding four kills.
• For the setters, Kristin Spengler tallied up 21 assists and eight digs while Megan Wilson concluded with 17 assists and seven digs.  Libero Rachel Hess finished with 17 digs.
• For Penn State, Jonni Parker hit .348 with 18 kills, 11 digs and a pair of blocks.  Adanna Rollins concluded with 10 kills, eight digs and four blocks.

How It Happened:

• Towson fell behind early off the serving of Gabby Blossom, who got Penn State on a set-opening 5-0 run.  Lydia Wiers knocked down a kill to stop the Penn State run, but another 5-0 run by the Nittany Lions made it 10-1 in the first set.  Towson started to chip away, trading two points for one twice: scoring off a PSU service error then a Fay Bakodimou kill from the outside, then after a PSU kill, Irbe Lazda and Nikiya Mitchell each blasted the ball for kills.  After a PSU kill, Towson went on a 3-0 run, sandwiched by kills from Emily Jarome and Lazda, to pull within four at 12-8.
• Penn State got the next three on kills to get its lead back to seven.  Towson halted the advance with a Jarome kill off the block and a PSU attack error to pull within five.  Towson could not get closer in the set as Penn State got 10 of the final 11 points to win set one 25-11.
• Set two began as a back-and-forth affair, with, despite a strong combo block from Nina Cajic and Wiers, Penn State getting an early 6-4 lead.  Towson went ahead with three in a row, started by a Jarome kill on the outside, to lead 7-6.  Following a PSU kill, a Wiers kill and PSU attack error brought the Tigers up two.  The teams started to exchange points, with Cajic having a kill and block to get Towson back up two at 11-9.  PSU tied it up at 12, then Towson again went back up two off a pair of PSU errors.
• At 14-12 Towson, Penn State got six of the next seven points to take the lead 18-15, prompting a Towson timeout.  Towson rallied back, combining a Lazda kill, Jarome kill, Kristin Spengler service ace and a Jarome-Wiers combo block to complete a 4-0 run and take the lead 19-18.  After PSU went back up 21-19, Jarome powered through a block, then a Wiers-Bakodimou combo block tied the set up at 21-21.  Back and forth the teams went with the crowd getting loud as a PSU set point was ended by a service error.  Next point, a PSU attack error made it set point for Towson at 25-24.  PSU defended on a Jonni Parker kill, then Towson got another chance after a PSU attack error.  After a furious back-and-forth rally, a Spengler kill on a PSU net violation earned Towson the set win 27-25 to tie the match at 1-1.
• The third set started similarly to the second with back-and-forth play, with kills from Bakodimou, Cajic and Mitchell keeping pace with PSU.  The Nittany Lions went ahead on a 3-0 run to lead 6-3, later being up 7-4.  Towson's front row started hammering down the ball for hard kills, tying the set up at 9-9.  A couple of exchanges got the score to 11-11, then PSU got a 3-0 run to lead 14-11.  Towson got back within one, but another 4-0 PSU run, capped by three kills from Adanna Rollins, gave the Nittany Lions an 18-13 lead.
• Towson halted the PSU run in strong fashion, blocking down a Rollins attack then Spengler earning an ace to bring the Tigers within three.  PSU returned the lead to five as Towson looked to battle back. At 21-16, kills from Bakodimou and Cajic sparked a 3-0 run for Towson and got the Tigers back to within two at 21-19.  That is as close as Towson came in the third set as at 22-20, three consecutive PSU kills gave the set to the Nittany Lions 25-20.  PSU led the match 2-1.
• Penn State got off to a 4-0 start in the fourth set.  Using a Jarome ace and a triple block, Towson got to within two and started going back-and-forth with Penn State.  Exchanging kills each way, at 10-7 PSU, Towson earned four kills in a row, with two from Cajic in the middle and ending with one from Jarome, to take an 11-10 advantage.  PSU went back ahead on three consecutive kills for a 13-11 lead.
• Following an exchange, a Wiers kill followed by a PSU error put the set back in a tie at 14-14.  Towson countered PSU points with kills from Bakodimou and Lazda, pushing the score to 17-17.  PSU went on a 3-0 sprint as Towson followed with a timeout.  The run ended on a service error, but the Nittany Lions got four more to make it 24-18.  Towson battled to the end, with Lazda and Wiers knocking down a Rollins attack then Cajic notching a pair of consecutive kills, but PSU finished on a Rollins kill to win the set 25-21 and take the match 3-1.

Inside the Numbers

• Towson now has 304 blocks as a team, setting a new team record for blocks in the 25-point scoring era.
• This is the second match in a row where Towson has won a set against a ranked Penn State program.  In addition, Towson has won at least one set in three of its last four NCAA Tournament matches.
• Towson's five-match winning streak came to a halt tonight.
• Penn State advances to the NCAA Second Round tomorrow against the winner of Pittsburgh/UMBC.

 
- TowsonTigers.com –