When                                Friday September 10,2022
                                          Saturday September 11,2022
Where                               Fitzgerald Field House | Pittsburgh, Pa.
Times                                Friday: 11 a.m.
                                          Saturday: 11 a.m.
                                          Saturday: 7 p.m.
Team Records                 Towson (7-0)
                                          #7 Pittsburgh (5-1)
                                          American (6-0)
                                          Bowling Green (3-3)
Stream                              ACCNX ($)
Series                               Towson vs Pittsburgh: First meeting
                                          American Leads Towson: 17-7
                                          Towson vs Bowling Green: First meeting                               

First Serve
The Towson University Tigers travel to Pittsburgh to compete in the Panther Challenge this weekend with the Tigers' opening match against Bowling Green on Friday, Sept. 9 at 11 a.m. Towson will be returning to the site where they played Penn State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament and be facing former NCAA foe American in the second match.

Scouting the Reigning Tigers
Towson is coming off its their third-straight CAA title after going 12-4 in the conference last season and defeating Elon 3-2 in the championship. The three-time champs return three of their top four scorers from last season. Graduate student Fay Bakodimou led Towson the previous year in kills per set (2.74), points per set (3.58) and service aces (61). Senior Lydia Wiers led the Tigers in hit percentage (.348) and blocks (138), while junior Nina Cajic ranked third on the team in hit percentage (.339), kills per set (2.29) and points per set (3.12). Bakodimou, Wiers and Cajoc were all named to the 2022 CAA Preseason Volleyball Team. The Tigers led the CAA last year in blocks per set (2.64), opponent hitting percentage (.137) and team total blocks (304).

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 Jas Purakal.          

Weekly Award
Nina Cajic earned CAA Offensive Player of the 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. Cajic helped the Tigers defeat Princeton 3-1 with 12 kills, then followed up with 10 kills and a .556 hit percentage in a sweep against Radford. She continued her form with 12 kills and five blocks in Towson's five set victory over Rutgers. Cajic was efficient against Baltimore-rivals Morgan State with a .750 hit percentage and nine kills.

Lockdown Defense
 After the two tournaments, the Tigers lead the CAA in opponent hit percentage (.117) and blocks per set (2.50). Lydia Wiers leads the CAA in blocks per set averaging 1.21 and Aayinde Smith ranks third with 0.96 blocks per set. The Tigers sit eighth in the nation in opponent hit percentage at 0.117. Towson has given up an average of 18.8 points per set to their opponents. 

Electrifying Offense
The Tigers offense has been phenomenal to start the 2022 season. Towson ranks 11th in the nation in hit percentage at 0.315. The Tigers lead the CAA in assists per set (12.67), kills per set (13.54) and rank fourth in service aces per set (1.67). Nina Cajic ranks fourth in the CAA in hit percentage with .435 while teammate Lydia Wiers sits in fifth with a .413 hit percentage.    
                                                                                                                 
Towson-American By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record American Leads Towson 17-7
at Towson, Tied 3-3
at American, American Leads 9-1
at Neutral Sites, American Leads 2-1
at Unknown Sites, Tied 2-2
First Meeting 1976 (Towson 2-0)
Last Meeting Dec. 6, 2019
Towson 3, American 2
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".


Last Time Out: vs American | Dec. 6, 2019 | University Park, Pa. | Rec Hall
These two programs faced off in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2019. The first set went back and forth with Towson taking an early lead 12-8. American took a timeout and was able to tie the game at 15. The teams traded points until the Eagles took a 21-19 lead. Towson tied the set once again at 21 and were able to regain the lead through a couple of kills to have set point. Kristin Spengler subbed in and scored the winning kill to take the first set 25-23. The Eagles jumped out to 9-1 lead in the second set, then Towson tried to close the gap, but American was too much and took the set 25-15. In the third set, the Tigers took a 12-8 advantage, but the Eagles reduced the gap to two. Towson responded with five of the next six points to lead 17-11. American fought back and evened the score at 20, but the Tigers closed the set on a 5-2 run to secure the third set. American opened a 13-5 advantage in the fourth set, but after a timeout Towson went on a 12-0 run to take a 17-13 lead. The Eagles returned with a 5-0 run to regain the lead and the Eagles were able to hold on and take the set 25-22. The deciding set started with Towson having a 5-3 advantage, then American went on a 4-0 run to have a 7-5 lead. The Tigers countered with a 7-1 lead to go up 12-8. Towson held on for a 15-12 set win and sealed their first-ever NCAA Tournament win.  

With a Win on Friday, Towson Would...
- Win its eighth straight match to open the season.
- Win its 12th straight regular season match, dating back to Nov. 7, 2019, against James Madison.
-Win Coach Don Metil's 200th match at Towson.
-Pick up their first win against Bowling Green.                                                                                                             

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)

Climbing the Charts
- Now in his 21st season as an NCAA volleyball head coach, Coach Don Metil has amassed 429 wins.
- Metil is 429-204 all-time (.677) 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: 199-74
- Metil is second all-time in wins at Towson University, with 199 wins closing in on 200 wins here.
- Cathy Cain: 201-143 (1989-98) | Don Metil: 199-74 (2013-Pres.) | 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 Report
- Pittsburgh was won five straight matches after losing their opening match to #25 San Diego 3-2. The Panthers swept Hawaii and Texas A&M to round out the Texas A&M Invitational. Pittsburgh defeated Cincinnati in five sets to start off the BYU Nike Invitational, then swept Utah State and closed out with a 3-1 win against #7 BYU in a contested match. The Panthers were picked to finish second in the Preseason ACC Poll, receiving five first-place votes. Pittsburgh has only registered eight or 12 total blocks in their six matches and the Panthers hold their opponents to .196 average hit percentage.
- American comes into Pittsburgh with a 6-0 record, the only other squad undefeated. The Eagles swept Georgetown and George Mason, then followed up with a 3-1 win against George Washington. American hosted UMBC and Delaware last weekend and won both matches 3-1. The Eagles played Coppin State on Tuesday and came away with a 3-1 victory. American was voted to finish third in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, while Zeynep Uzen was picked to be the 2022 Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year.
- Bowling Green is 3-3 to open their 2022 season. The Falcons started 0-2 after being swept by #13 Purdue and losing to Loyola Chicago 3-1, but the Falcons finished the Tennessee Classic with a 3-1 win against Tennessee. Bowling Green returned home to host the Hampton Inn Invitational and won 3-1 against Northern Kentucky in the first match. The Falcons lost 3-1 to #22 Western Kentucky, but finished strong with a 3-1 win versus DePaul. Bowling Green was voted to finish first in the MAC East Division and to win the MAC Tournament. The Falcons have a well-rounded team ranking 25th in the country at attacks per set (37.26) while registering 15.83 digs per set to sit 43rd.