When Thursday, September 7 & Friday, September 8, 2023
Where Bohler Gym | Pullman, Wash.
Times Thursday: 1:30 p.m. ET/ 10:30 a.m. PT & 11 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT
Friday: 5 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT
Team Records Towson (6-1)
#8 BYU (6-0)
#13 Washington State (5-1)
UC Irvine (2-4)
Stream Washington State Live Stream and Pac-12 Insider
Series Towson & BYU First Meeting
Towson & Washington State First Meeting
UC Irvine Leads Towson 1-0
First Serve
The Towson University Tigers volleyball team heads west to compete in the Cougar Challenge facing two Top-15 teams this week. The Tigers travel out west for the first time since 2012 in the Montana Tournament, where the Black & Gold defeated Texas Tech and Furman.
Scouting the Reigning Tigers
The Black & Gold played five matches last as the Tigers cohosted the Towson/Morgan State Invitational. Towson went a perfect 5-0, picking up four sweeps. The Tigers defeated Baltimore-rivals Morgan State 3-0 behind
Irbe Lazda's 14 kills on .500 hitting percentage led the way. Towson followed up with a four-set victory against fellow NCAA Tournament team, FDU. The Tigers finished the invitational with three sweeps over Dartmouth, Temple and Rider.
Nina Cajic finished with 51 kills over five matches while
Erin Brothers has 22 blocks and
Aayinde Smith has 21 blocks.
The Tigers opened the season splitting two matches against South Carolina last weekend. The Tigers swept the Gamecocks in the first match behind 12 blocks, led by Smith's nine total blocks to win the program's first match over an SEC opponent. Towson dropped the next match in four sets, but Lazda tied a career-high in kills with 17 on a .452 hitting percentage.
Towson comes into the season looking for its fifth consecutive CAA title as the Tigers were voted by the opposing coaches to finish first. The Black & Gold bring back 12 players from last year's 29-2 team, including the dynamic duo of
Victoria Barrett and
Nina Cajic, who both earned All-CAA First Team honors and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) East All-Region honors last season.
Barrett accumulated 329 kills to rank first on the team, averaged a team-high 3.05 kills and finished 19 matches with double-digit kills. She had a season-high 16 kills four times, including against Delaware in the CAA Championship. The outside hitter amassed 230 digs to finish second on the squad and finished ten matches with double-digit digs.
Cajic amassed a career-high 303 kills to rank second on the team while averaging 2.78 kills per set and finished with double-digit kills in 15 matches. The outside hitter finished 21 matches with a .300 hit percentage or higher, including ten matches with .500 or higher and added a career-high 85 blocks. She led the CAA in hitting percentage with a .374 tally.
The Tigers also bring back All-CAA Second Team middle blocker
Aayinde Smith who ranked second on the team in total blocks with 129 blocks to rank 14th in program history for single-season blocks. Graduate student
Rachel Hess returns as Towson's libero who led the Black & Gold in digs (390) and digs per set (3.64).
Back-to-Back
Irbe Lazda was named CAA Offensive Player of the Week after being named CAA Defensive Player of the Week the previous week. Lazda led the Tigers with 57 kills, averaging 3.56 kills per set with a .421 hitting percentage while adding 17 total blocks. Last week, the Marupe, Latvia native totaled blocks with 12, including a team-high three solo blocks against South Carolina. The outside hitter averaged 1.71 blocks per set and tied a career-best with 17 kills in the second match at South Carolina on a .452 hitting percentage.
Last Season Recap
The Tigers had a historic 2022 season that saw the Black & Gold make the NCAA Tournament as an eighth seed. The Tigers had the best start to a season in program history going 18-0, including defeating #7 Pittsburgh in four sets to pick up the first win over a top-ten team in program history. Towson fell to Elon in five sets in their only regular-season loss, then won eight straight matches including two against Hofstra to secure the CAA regular-season title. The Black & Gold defeated Stony Brook in four sets then swept both Northeastern and Delaware to claim their fourth consecutive CAA postseason title. The Tigers were awarded an eighth seed and faced Georgia in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, where they fell in four sets.
Welcome to the CAA
Towson and the rest of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) will welcome the Campbell Camels to the conference. The Camels joined the CAA after 12 years in the Big South Conference, where they won the regular season title last year and won the Big South Tournament in 2021.
Block Party!
Towson picked up where they left off last season, ranking second in the country in blocks and blocks per set with 77 total blocks and averaging 3.35 blocks per set.
Aayinde Smith leads the Tigers with 32 total blocks and averages 1.39 blocks per set to rank 19th and 40th in the country.
Irbe Lazda has 29 total blocks to rank 33rd in the nation while
Erin Brothers sits 44th in the country in total blocks with 28.
Welcome Home!
Zyare Abdul-Rahim returns home after four seasons at Hofstra where she totaled 571 kills and 146 total blocks. The Baltimore, Maryland native had a stellar season last year, tallying a team-best 308 kills, averaging 2.91 kills per set while racking up 55 blocks to rank third on the Pride. She registered double-digit kills in 16 matches, including a career-high 21 kills against Hampton.
Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back Champs
- The Tigers remain the reigning champions of the league, winning their fourth-straight CAA title.
-Last year, the Black & Gold defeated CAA newcomers Stony Brook in four sets, then swept Northeastern in the semi-finals and Delaware in the championship match to secure the title.
-In 2021, the Tigers swept Delaware and won in five sets against Elon in the CAA Championship.
-Since Towson joined the CAA in 2002, no other team has three-peated as champions.
-The only teams to have won four 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 a 3-1 win over Elon and a sweep of James Madison in the CAA Tournament.
League of Their Own
-Over the last seven seasons, Towson has been one of the top teams in the CAA. Since the 2015 campaign, the Tigers have registered a 99-26 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 the College of Charleston in 2018.
2022: 13-1 | 2021: 12-4 | 2021 (spring): 2-0 | 2019: 16-0 | 2018: 10-6 | 2017: 12-4 | 2016: 10-6 | 2015: 12-4 | Total: 101-26 (.795)
With a Win on Thursday, Towson Would...
- Win its first match against BYU.
- Win its second match against a Top Ten opponent all-time.
- Pick up its first win out west since 2012 in the Montana Tournament.
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".
Fresh Faces
Towson brings in eight new faces this year:
Julia Lenik,
MacKenzie Whyte,
Maisie Jesse,
Lauren Mullings,
Ylenia De Mango (Auburn University at Montgomery),
Zyare Abdul-Rahim (Hofstra),
Yazmin Frazier (David & Elkins College) and
Joie Allen (Frostburg State).
Top of the Charts
- Now in his 22nd season as an NCAA volleyball head coach, Coach
Don Metil has amassed 457 wins.
- Metil is 457-207 all-time (.688) 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: 227-77
- Metil passed Cathy Cain on the all-time wins list after knocking off #7 Pittsburgh last season on Sept. 10th.
-
Don Metil: 227-77 (2013-Pres.) | Cathy Cain: 201-143 (1989-98) | Chris Riley: 144-54 (2000-05)
Instant Impact
Victoria Barrett had a phenomenal first year at Towson after transferring from New Mexico State. The Stafford, Virginia native led the Tigers in kills (329), kills per set (3.05), points (401.5) and points per set (3.72) last season while ranking second in service aces (31), digs (230) and digs per set (2.13). Barrett earned All-CAA First Team and was named an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American Honorable Mention, the second Tiger ever to earn the honor.
Protect this House!
- Since moving into SECU Arena full-time in 2013, Towson has racked up an impressive 100-24 (.806) overall record at home.
- 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 the 2021 season with a 17-4 record at SECU Arena.
- Towson has won 29 straight at home since October 3, 2021.
Towson-Washington State By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record First Meeting
at Towson, N/A
at Washington State, N/A
at Neutral Sites, N/A
at Unknown Sites, N/A
Towson-BYU By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record First Meeting
at Towson, N/A
at BYU, Temple Leads 2-1
at Neutral Sites, N/A
at Unknown Sites, N/A
Towson-UC Irvine By the Numbers
All-Time Series Record UC Irvine Leads 1-0
at Towson, N/A
at UC Irvine, UC Irvine Leads 1-0
at Neutral Sites, N/A
at Unknown Sites, N/A
Only Meeting Sept. 3, 1999
Towson 0, UC Irvine 3
Streak UC Irvine +1
Scouting the BYU Cougars
BYU sits eighth in the nation and currently is 6-0 this season. The Cougars opened the season with a four-set win over No.5 Pittsburgh, then followed up with four sets victories over UTRGV and Montana. BYU swept Loyola Marymount in a midweek matchup, then swept both McNeese and UC Davis in the dōTERRA Classic. The Cougars were picked to finish in second place in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, receiving one first-place vote. Whitney Bower and Erin Livingston were selected to the All-Big 12 Volleyball Preseason Team. Livingston leads the Cougars in kills (82) and kills per set (3.90), while Whitney Bower leads the team in assists (175) and ranks third in total blocks (21).
Scouting the Washington State Cougars
Washington State is currently ranked 13th in the country with a 5-1 record. The Cougars started the 2023 season with a sweep over Wright State but was defeated in straight sets by #4 Louisville. Washington State bounced back with a sweep over Troy. The Cougars returned to host the Cougar Invitational, which started out with a sweep over Northwestern State. Washington defeated Drake, then wrapped up the invitational with a sweep against Tulsa. The Cougars were picked to finish second in the Pac-12 Women's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll with 105 points, which was tied for the program's highest all-time preseason Pac-12 ranking. Iman Isanovic leads Washington State in kills (66) and kills per set (3.47), while Pia Timmer ranks third in kills (56) and second in total blocks (12).
Scouting the Anteaters
UC Irvine has started the 2023 season with a 2-4 record. The Anteaters hosted the UC Irvine/Adidas Invitational to start the 2023 season and dropped their opener to New Mexico in five sets, then were swept by Seton Hall. UC Irvine closed out their home tournament with a four-set loss to San Francisco. The Anteaters bounced back with a four-set victory over Chicago State and a sweep against Jacksonville State. Most recently, UC Irvine fell to Boston College in four sets. The Anteaters were voted sixth in the 2023 Big West Coaches Preseason Poll. Marianna Bertolone leads the team in kills (63) and service aces (8), while Ella Gardiner leads the squad with 14 total blocks and 51 kills.
