BALTIMORE -- Very little rust remained on the Towson University women's volleyball team after the summer as the Tigers opened the fall 2021 season with a definitive sweep over Morgan State University. 

The Friday afternoon match was part of the Baltimore Invitational, hosted by Morgan State at Hill Field House.

Towson (1-0) came out swinging and blocking, holding the Bears (0-2) to -.318 hitting in the first set en route to the 25-9, 25-13, 25-15 sweep. For the match, the Tigers hit .433, paced by eight kills from Lydia Wiers, who hit with .375 efficiency. Rachel Hess notched a dozen digs for the Tigers while graduate student transfer Megan Wilson put up 28 assists. Nikiya Mitchell led all multi-swing hitters with an .833 outing.

Morgan State was led by Justyus Jackson, who logged seven kills on 13 swings with just one error, going for .462 in the Bears' second match of the day. Madison Grace retrieved seven digs while Trinity Carruthers finished with seven assists.

How it Happened

• Towson didn't miss a beat to start its first match since the first round of the NCAA Tournament in April; the Tigers lept out to a 14-3 lead, aided by an 8-0 run and another burst of five straight. Morgan State called a timeout as Towson led 9-2, which worked for one point before Towson's 5-0 run.
• The Tigers used several small runs to add more distance, backed by Towson's defense, which did not allow Morgan State back-to-back points through the entire first set before winning 25-9.
• Despite the break between frames, Towson continued its roll, taking a 7-0 lead in the second set, paced by three straight kills from Nina Cajic, Wiers and Emily Jarome. 
• Later in the second, Towson strung together a 6-1 run to lead 15-4. Morgan scored back-to-back points for the first time in the match to trim the Tigers' lead back to single digits, 15-6 on two straight kills from Kayl Gaddy-Middleton and Grace.
• Behind another 9-2 run, Towson reached set point with a 24-8 advantage. But the Bears fought back late in the frame, ripping off five points in a row to cut the lead back to 11, but a Wiers termination on a Katie McCracken assist gave Towson a 25-13 set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Through the first eight points of the third set, both sides traded shots, with Morgan State going up 2-0 before Towson tied things up. The Bears regained a two-point, 4-2, but another 5-1 run for the Tigers gave Towson a 7-5 advantage. 
• Morgan State tied the set for a final time at 7-7, which set Towson up for a 6-3 run to a 13-10 lead. Back-to-back points for the homeside trimmed Towson's lead to 13-12. 
• The Tigers grabbed breathing room with a 5-0 burst, which included a kill and a pair of service aces from Fay Bakodimou for an 18-12 lead. Towson held Morgan State without consecutive points for the remainder of the set to finish the match with a 25-15 win.

Behind the Numbers

• Lydia Wiers led the Tigers with her eight kills, followed by seven from Jarome, who hit for .538 on the day with 13 swings and zero errors. Cajic added a half dozen kills as Nikiya Mitchell knocked down another five. Mitchell was Towson's top player in attack efficiency, hitting for .833 with six swings and no errors. 
• Bakodimou was Towson's top server, putting away four service aces with her four kills alongside five digs. 
• In her first match with the Tigers, setter Megan Wilson logged 28 assists and one service ace.
• Towson's defense held Morgan State to negative hitting on the day, finishing at -.053. The Bears' top set was the second, going for nine kills on 29 swings with seven errors. 
• Hess led Towson's backline defense with her 12 digs while posting an assist and one ace.
• Towson improved to 34-2 all-time against Morgan State and has not dropped a set to the Bears in the last six meetings between the programs, which are separated by six miles. 
• The Tigers have now won 25 straight regular season matches, stretching back to mid-September 2019. Towson has also won four in a row against in-state foes.

Up Next for Towson

• The Tigers return to Hill Field House on Saturday for a pair of matches.
• Towson opens the day at 1:30 p.m. to take on Cleveland State (1-0) before rounding out the Baltimore-based action with a 6:30 p.m. match against Binghamton.
• The Tigers travel to the state capital on Sunday to take on the United States Naval Academy, which is also competing at the Baltimore Invitational at Morgan State. First serve in Annapolis is slated for 2 p.m.