When Saturday September 17,2022
Sunday September 18,2022
Where SECU Arena | Towson, Md.
Times Saturday: 1 p.m.
Sunday: 1 p.m.
Team Records Towson (10-0)
Hampton (3-0)
Stream FloVolleyball ($)
Series Towson Leads Hampton 1-0
First Serve
The Towson University Tigers host CAA newcomers Hampton on Saturday and Sunday to start conference play this weekend. The Pirates will be playing in their first CAA matches this weekend after joining the conference in July.
Receiving Votes
This week the Tigers received 51 votes in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll. Towson has started the season 10-0 for the second season in a row and looks to get ranked for the first time in program history.
All We Do is Win
Towson is one of ten teams to be undefeated at this point in the season. The Tigers will be squaring off with another perfect team in Hampton who are 3-0. Towson, Boston College and Jacksonville State are the only teams that are 10-0 so far.
Scouting the Reigning Tigers
Towson picked up were they left off last year and won ten matches straight to open the 2022 campaign. The Tigers swept the Pirate Invitational defeating Norfolk State, East Carolina, and Furman. Towson hosted the Tiger Invitational and won all four matches including a thrilling five set victory over Rutgers. The Tigers competed in the Panther Challenge last weekend and swept Bowling Green and American, then knocked off #7 Pittsburgh in four sets to defeat their first ranked program all-time.
Victoria Barrett leads Towson in kills (104), kills per set (3.06) and points per set (3.72).
Sarah Jordan has made an instant impact leading the Tigers in assists (205) and assists per set (6.03).
Fresh Faces
Towson brings in nine new faces this year:
Erin Brothers,
Trinity Burge (Radford),
Sydney Stewart,
Victoria Barrett (New Mexico State),
Sarah Jordan,
Kerra Trimble (Southern Idaho),
Amiyah De'Long (Stony Brook),
Maya Scott (New Orleanes) and
Jasmine Purakal.
Going Back-to-Back
This week, the CAA announced
Lydia Wiers as CAA Defensive Player of the Week. The senior from Willard, Ohio totaled 14 blocks at the Panther Challenge, averaging 1.40 blocks per set, while the team averaged 3.30 blocks per set over the weekend. Wiers has four or more blocks in her last eight matches, including six against #7 Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Nina Cajic earned CAA Offensive Player of the Week the previous week by totaling 43 kills, 10 blocks and having a .397 hit percentage over four matches. The junior from Subotica, Serbia had double-digit kills in three of the four matches with only four errors on 99 attempts.
Lockdown Defense
Through ten matches this season, the Tigers lead the CAA in opponent hit percentage (.148) and blocks per set (2.75).
Lydia Wiers leads the CAA in blocks per set averaging 1.26 and
Aayinde Smith ranks second with 1.09 blocks per set. Wiers sits 25th in the country in total blocks with 43 and leads the CAA as well. Smith is not far behind with 37 blocks and sits third in the CAA.
Rachel Hess leads Towson in digs (101) and digs per set (3.16).
Electrifying Offense
The Tigers offense has been phenomenal to start the 2022 season. Towson ranks seventh in the nation in hit percentage at 0.302 and 12th in the nation in assists per set at 13.06. The Tigers lead the CAA in assists (444), kills (476), kills per set (14) and rank fourth in service aces per set (1.68).
Nina Cajic ranks second in the CAA in hit percentage with .413 while teammate
Lydia Wiers sits in third with a .383 hit percentage.
Towson-Hampton By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Towson Leads Hampton 1-0
at Towson, N/A
at Hampton, Towson Leads 1-0
at Neutral Sites, N/A
at Unknown Sites, N/A
Last Meeting Aug. 28, 2010
Towson 3, Hampton 0
Streak Towson +1
How to Say It: TOWSON
TOWSON is pronounced TOW like towel + Son.
IT IS NOT: TOE-son, Townson, Towsond, Townsend, Townsen, Towzen. One N, no Z.
We are Towson University, no longer Towson State University (and haven't been since
July 1, 1997).
Our mascot is Doc The Tiger, named after Donald "Doc" Minnegan, long-time soccer coach and athletics department administrator. Towson became the "Tigers" in 1962 after John Schuerholz (yes, the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame General Manager) pushed for the name change from the "Towson College Knights".
With a Win on Saturday, Towson Would...
- Win its 11th straight match to open the season.
- Win its 13th straight regular season match, dating back to Nov. 7, 2019, against James Madison.
- Pick up their first CAA win this season.
- Secure their second win against Hampton all-time and their first win against the Pirates in the CAA.
Returning to the Court
-Towson will be returning nine players from last year's team.
- The Tigers' experience from last year is a combined 594 sets played, including
Lydia Wiers,
Rachel Hess, and
Fay Bakodimou who totaled 342 sets.
- The 19 current members of the program have played in 1,527 total collegiate sets across their respective careers.
Back-to-Back-to-Back Champs
- The Tigers remain as the reigning champions of the league, winning their third-straight CAA title.
- Last year sweeping Delaware in the semifinals and defeating Elon 3-2 in the championship.
- Since Towson joined the CAA in 2002, no team has three-peated as champions.
- The only teams to have won three or more titles in a row were William & Mary seven times (1985-1991) and George Mason five times (1992-1996).
- The Tigers hoisted the league trophy after a perfect 4-0 regular season in the spring of 2021, which included a 2-0 mark in league play. Towson put together a 16-0 CAA campaign in 2019, paired with 3-1 win over Elon and a sweep of James Madison in the CAA Tournament.
- There are five Tigers currently on the roster that were members of the historic back-to-back-to-back championship teams:
Katie McCracken,
Lydia Wiers,
Asia Goins,
Morgan Wilson and
Fay Bakodimou.
League of Their Own
- Over the last seven seasons, Towson has been one of the top teams in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Since the 2015 campaign, the Tigers have registered an 88-25 record in league play, including a record-setting 16-0 mark in 2019.
- The Tigers went 12-4 last year and never got swept. The last time Towson was swept in league play happened against College of Charleston in 2018.
2022: 12-4 | 2021: 2-0 | 2019: 16-0 | 2018: 10-6 | 2017: 12-4 | 2016: 10-6 | 2015: 12-4 | Total: 88-25 (.779)
Top of the Charts
- Now in his 21st season as an NCAA volleyball head coach, Coach
Don Metil has amassed 432 wins.
- Metil is 432-204 all-time (.679) as a head coach.
- Metil's records by school: Notre Dame College: 40-30 | Lees-McRae: 30-9
Coppin State: 15-46 | Maryland Eastern Shore: 145-45 | Towson: 202-74
- Metil passed Cathy Cain on the all-time wins list after knocking off #7 Pittsburgh last Saturday.
-
Don Metil: 202-74 (2013-Pres.) | Cathy Cain: 201-143 (1989-98) | Chris Riley: 144-54 (2000-05)
Protect this House
- Since moving into SECU Arena full time in 2013, Towson has racked up an impressive 88-24 (.786) overall record at SECU Arena.
- The Tigers have four seasons with double digit wins, including a 10-3 mark in 2017.
- The Tigers finished 2018 strong at home with a three-match win streak.
- The Tigers finished 2019 with a 12-1 overall mark at SECU Arena, with an 8-0 mark in the CAA.
- Towson went 3-0 in the shortened spring 2020 season.
- The Tigers finished last season with a 17-4 record at SECU Arena.
- Towson has won 11 straight at home since October 3rd.
Scouting The Pirates
Hampton has only played three matches this year, winning all them so far. The Pirates opened their season at the Henson Hawk Invitational. The Pirates defeated UMES 3-1 and followed up with a sweep against Manhattan. In the last match, Hampton were victorious against Norfolk State 3-2 in a back-and-forth affair. The Pirates led the CAA in aces per set averaging 2.75 per, which is one ace higher than second place North Carolina A&T at 1.71. Hampton's has the second highest hitting percentage, behind Towson, with a .254 percentage and the Pirates hold their opponents to a .171 hit percentage, the second highest behind Towson.
