TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University volleyball team faced off against Furman this afternoon in the second day of the Pirate Invitational.
 
Towson (3-0, 0-0 CAA) swept Furman (1-2, 0-0 SoCon) to win the Pirate Invitational defeating the Paladins 25-19, 25-14, 25-13 to start the season 3-0 for the fourth straight season.
 
Key Stats vs Furman:

• Towson had 44 kills compared to 30 for Furman.
• The Paladins committed 17 attack errors while the Tigers had only three.
• Towson held the Paladins to a .149 hit percentage while the Tigers had .526 percentage.
• The Tigers registered seven blocks with Lydia Wiers having four compared to Furman's one.

 
How It Happened vs Furman:

• The Tigers jumped out to an early 4-2 lead in the first set, but Furman responded with a 3-0 run to take a 5-4 lead. Towson and Furman exchanged one-point leads to keep the Paladins in front until the Tigers went on a 4-0 run behind two kills from Nina Cajic to have a 10-7 advantage.
• Towson went on a 5-2 run to take a 15-9 lead, including a service ace from Katie McCracken that caused Furman to take a timeout. After the timeout, Towson continued where they left off with a 5-1 run to have a 20-10 lead.
• Furman cut Towson's lead down to 21-16 after going on 6-1 run to force a timeout from the Tigers. Towson and Furman traded points down the stretch with the Tigers wining the first set 25-19.
• Towson started the second set on a 7-3 run behind two kills from Fay Bakodimou and Victoria Barrett each. Both teams traded points until the Tigers went on a 4-0 run that was sparked by a service ace from Bakodimou to take a 14-6 lead.
• The Paladins reduced the deficit to 16-11 going on a 5-2 run. Towson closed out the second set on a 9-3 run that included kills from Lydia Wiers, Irbe Lazda, and Barrett to win the set 25-14.
• The Tigers started the third set on a 9-4 run, but the Paladins went on a 3-0 run to reduce Towson's lead to 9-7. Towson maintained their lead until Wiers started a 6-0 run that included two service aces from Bakodimou to have a 19-9 lead.
• Furman and Towson went back and forth until the Tigers took a time out at 21-11. Out of the timeout, Towson went on a 3-1 run to reach setpoint, but Furman made a late 4-0 run to make the score 24-16. Erin Brothers scored the final point to secure Towson's third straight sweep.

 
Inside the Numbers vs Furman

• Five Tigers had five or more kills with Lydia Wiers leading Towson with 10 kills.
• The Tigers held all three of their opponents to under .200 hit percentage.
• For the second straight year, Towson swept their first three opponents to start 3-0.
• The Tigers have swept their first three opponents for the third time in the last four years.
• Sarah Jordan led the Tigers with 18 assists while Katie McCracken had 17 assists.
• Six Tigers finished with a .500 or higher hit percentage.

 
Next Game:
Towson will host the Towson Invitational from Sept. 2-4 with games against Rutgers, Morgan State, Princeton and Radford.