When Saturday October 1,2022
Sunday October 2,2022
Where SECU Arena | Towson, Md.
Times Saturday: 1 p.m.
Sunday: 1 p.m.
Team Records Towson (14-0, 4-0 CAA)
North Carolina A&T (4-10, 0-4 CAA)
Stream FloVolleyball ($)
Series Towson Leads North Carolina A&T 1-0
First Serve
The Towson University Tigers host the North Carolina A&T Aggies for the first time in CAA. The Tigers are coming off two sweeps against Stony Brook last weekend to improve to 14-0 for the second time ever in program history.
Receiving Votes
This week the Tigers received 37 votes in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll. If Towson earns enough votes, it will be the first time that the program has been ranked in their 47-year history.
All We Do is Win
Towson is one of four unbeaten teams in the country heading into this weekend with #1 Texas, #24 UCF and Auburn remaining. The Tigers are tied with Western Kentucky and Jacksonville State for the most wins in the nation with 14. If Towson wins both matches this weekend, they will tie the best-ever start to a season in program history at 16-0 in 2017.
Nationally Recognized
Nina Cajic was named GameChanger/AVCA National Division I Women's VB Player of the Week on Tuesday. Cajic had 32 kills, including a season-high 18 kills on Sunday's win against Stony Brook. She averaged 5.33 kills per set and a .698 hit percentage. In Saturday's match against Stony Brook Cajic totaled 14 kills on .737 hit percentage. This is the time first time a player from Towson has won this award.
Welcome to the CAA
Towson has started CAA play with all three newcomers into the CAA this year, Monmouth does not have a women's volleyball program. The Tigers are 4-0 against the new members, sweeping them in every match so far. Towson welcomes N.C. A&T this weekend looking to go perfect against the newcomers.
Scouting the Reigning Tigers
Towson picked up where they left off last year and have won 14 straight matches to open the 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 and swept Bowling Green and American, then knocked off #7 Pittsburgh. Towson started CAA play with two sweeps over newcomers Hampton behind strong team performances. The Tigers went up to Long Island and swept Stony Brook twice, including a hard-fought on Saturday.
Nina Cajic leads Towson in kills (124), while Victoria Barret leads the team in kills per set (3.10) and points per set (3.83).
Sarah Jordan has made an instant impact leading the Tigers in assists (243) and assists per set (6.08).
Leading the Conference
The Tigers are not only leading the conference, but leading the conference in most statistical categories. Towson leads the CAA in aces per set (1.98), assists per set (13.61), blocks per set (2.49), hitting percentage (.312), kills per set (14.61), team assists (626), opponent hit percentage (.154), team kills (672) and team service aces (91). The Tigers are not first in only five categories.
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.
Lockdown Defense
Through 14 matches this season, the Tigers are ranked 17th in the country in opponent hit percentage (0.154).
Lydia Wiers is tied for second in the CAA in blocks per set averaging 1.11. Wiers is currently second in the CAA in total blocks with 51.
Rachel Hess leads Towson in digs (151) and digs per set (3.43).
Electrifying Offense
The Tigers offense has been phenomenal to start the 2022 season. Towson ranks third in the nation in hit percentage at 0.312. The Tigers sit second in the nation in kills per set with 14.61 and assists per set at 13.61.
Nina Cajic ranks first in the CAA and fifth in the country in hit percentage with a .442 while teammate
Lydia Wiers sits second in the CAA with a .403 hit percentage.
Fay Bakodimou sits tied for fourth in the conference in service aces per set averaging 0.38.
Highly Awarded
Nina Cajic earned CAA Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this year with 32 kills, including a season-high 18 kills last Sunday. Cajic averaged a hit percentage of .698 and had a .737 percentage in Saturday's match. Earlier in the month, she earned the honor 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. Two weeks ago, 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.
Towson-North Carolina A&T By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record Towson Leads North Carolina A&T 1-0
at Towson, Towson Leads 1-0
at North Carolina A&T, N/A
at Neutral Sites, N/A
at Unknown Sites, N/A
Last Meeting Oct. 14, 1995
Towson 3, North Carolina A&T 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 15th straight match to open the season.
- Win its 17th straight regular season match, dating back to Nov. 7, 2019, against James Madison.
- Win their seventh straight regular season CAA match.
- Be one win away from tying the best-ever start to a season in program history, 16-0.
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 92-25 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: 4-0 | 2021: 12-4 | 2021 (spring): 2-0 | 2019: 16-0 | 2018: 10-6 | 2017: 12-4 | 2016: 10-6 | 2015: 12-4 | Total: 92-25 (.786)
Top of the Charts
- Now in his 21st season as an NCAA volleyball head coach, Coach
Don Metil has amassed 436 wins.
- Metil is 436-204 all-time (.681) 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: 206-74
- Metil passed Cathy Cain on the all-time wins list after knocking off #7 Pittsburgh earlier this month.
-
Don Metil: 206-74 (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 90-24 (.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 13 straight at home since October 3rd.
Scouting The Aggies
North Carolina A&T comes into Towson with a 4-10 overall record and a 0-4 CAA record. The Aggies opened their season with a five-set loss to Coppin State, but bounced back with three consecutive victories. The streak started with a sweep against Bethune-Cookman, then followed up with a 3-2 win against UNC Greensboro. North Carolina A&T defeated North Carolina Central 3-1. But had their winning streak ended against Davidson in the Wildcat Classic. The Aggies lost 3-1 to New Mexico State and 3-2 to Lindenwood to finish out the Wildcat Classic. North Carolina A&T fell to Wake Forest 3-0, then swept North Carolina Central to open the Aggie/Phoenix Volley for Unity. The Aggies lost to Florida A&M 3-0 to warp up non-conference play. North Carolina A&T fell to Elon 3-2 and 3-1 to open up CAA play, then lost 3-0 and 3-1 to Hofstra. Naiya Sawtelle sits second in the CAA in kills per set and points per set with 4.11 kills per set and 4.81 points per set.
