TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University volleyball team welcomed the Dartmouth Big Green and the Temple Owls on Saturday. The Tigers (5-1) swept the Big Green (0-3) 25-11, 25-20, 25-13, then the Black & Gold followed up with an action-packed sweep over Temple (5-1) 25-13, 25-22, 30-28.
Irbe Lazda totaled 23 kills over both matches, including a team-best 15 kills against Temple while adding four total blocks against Dartmouth.
Nina Cajic and
Victoria Barrett each finished with 19 kills apiece on Saturday with Barrett adding six service aces.
Key Stats vs Dartmouth:
- Towson finished with a season-best .419 hitting percentage, including a .515 percentage in the third set.
- The Tigers totaled only nine errors compared to 19 for the Big Green.
- Towson had six service aces versus one for Dartmouth.
- The Tigers finished double-digit blocks for the second straight match, totaling ten.
How It Happened vs Dartmouth:
- The Tigers got off to a fast start with a 6-1 run with two kills from Nina Cajic.
- Towson continued to grow the lead, scoring seven of the following ten points to have a 13-4 advantage with four different Tigers getting a kill.
- Towson went on a 5-0 run that included four consecutive kills to stretch the advantage to 18-6.
- The teams went back and forth until the Tigers scored the final three points to win the first set 25-11.
- Towson got out to a 6-2 early lead with four kills from four different Tigers.
- The teams went back and forth with the Tigers holding on to a narrow lead, then Towson followed up with a 5-1 run that included three kills from Irbe Lazda to have a 16-9 edge.
- The teams continued to battle back and forth, then the Big Green cut the deficit to three late in the set, but the Tigers closed it out with a 3-1 run to take the second set 25-20.
- The third set started with a 7-2 run for Towson with three kills from Erin Brothers.
- The Tigers extended the lead to 15-6 after scoring eight of the following 11 points.
- The Big Green cut the deficit to five after a 6-2 run, but Towson finished the third set with an 8-1 run to win the third set 25-13 and secure the Tigers' third consecutive victory.
Inside the Numbers vs Dartmouth:
- Zyare Abdul-Rahim finished with seven kills on .700 hitting percentage.
- Victoria Barrett tied her Towson-high in service aces with three.
- Sarah Jordan had 19 assists and five digs while Trinity Burge had 13 assists and two digs.
- Nina Cajic registered her second double-double this season with a team-best ten kills and ten digs.
- The Tigers held the Big Green to a .054 hitting percentage, the second time Towson held an opponent under .100 hitting percentage this season.
Key Stats vs Temple:
- Towson held Temple's Taylor Davenport to only 11 kills, a season-low for the senior outside hitter.
- The Tigers had a .322 hitting percentage and finished two sets with a hitting percentage of more than .300.
- Towson finished with a season-high 61 digs.
How It Happened vs Temple:
- Temple scored the first point of the match, but the Tigers scored the following ten points with Irbe Lazda leading the way with five kills.
- The Owls scored consecutive points, but Towson responded with nine straight points, including back-to-back service aces from Sydney Stewart to have a 19-3 advantage.
- Temple went on a 5-0 run to cut into the deficit, but the Tigers were able to win the first set 25-13 after trading points late.
- The Tigers jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start the second set, then the Owls scored seven of the following ten points to take a 9-8 advantage.
- Both teams went back and forth, tying the score six different times, then Towson took an 18-15 lead after a 4-1 run with back-to-back kills from Victoria Barrett.
- Temple tried to make a comeback, but the Tigers had an answer each time to win the second set 25-22.
- The Owls took a 4-2 advantage to start the third set, but Towson tied the score at seven apiece after a ball-handling error by Temple.
- The Owls responded with five consecutive points to have a 12-7 edge, then The Tigers fought back and tied the score at 17.
- The Tigers got three straight points to take a 20-18 lead, but Temple countered with three consecutive points themselves to have a 21-20 advantage.
- The teams went back and forth, but Towson reached match point, leading 24-23, but a Taylor Davenport kill tied the score.
- Sarah Jordan gave the Tigers match point again after a no-look dump caught Temple off guard.
- Towson thought they had the win, but the Owls won their challenge, which tied the score at 25.
- An Aayinde Smith kill gave Towson its third match point, but Temple scored consecutive points to reach set point.
- After a Temple attack error and a Barrett kill, the Tigers had their fourth match point, but an Avery Luoma kill tied the score at 28.
- Lazda's 15th kill gave Towson its fifth match point, but this time the Tigers got the point after an attack error by the Owls gave Towson a 30-28 set victory and the match.
Inside the Numbers vs Temple:
- Towson has won its last three matches against the Owls.
- The Tigers have won four of their five matches by sweep this season.
- Sarah Jordan registered her second double-double of the season with 26 assists and 11 digs while Trinity Burge added 12 assists.
- Sydney Stewart had a team-best 17 digs and two service aces.
Up Next:
- The Tigers wrap up the Towson/Morgan State Invitational tomorrow on NBC Sports Washington with a 1 p.m. matchup against Rider.
