HAMPTON, Va. – The Towson University volleyball team earned its 20^th victory on the season with a three-set sweep over Hampton on Friday afternoon.
 
With Towson's (20-3, 11-1 CAA) win over Hampton (1-21, 0-12 CAA), the Tigers have won at least 20 matches in the last six fall seasons played (not counting 2020 due to COVID).
 
Key Stats:

• Towson hit .281 in the three-set match, holding Hampton to a .011 hitting percentage.  The Tigers hit .429 in set one and .364 in set two.
• Tshilanda Diouf hit .692 in the match for Towson with 10 kills and just one error on 13 total attacks.  Taylor Pagan notched nine kills while Kendall Minta had six, adding three blocks.  Kaitlyn Moran tallied up 18 assists, two aces and four digs while Sydney Stewart led Towson with 16 digs, adding four assists and an ace.
• For Hampton, Racquel Frazier had the team lead of seven kills, adding two digs.  Kylah McNeal finished with three kills and four blocks.

 
How it Happened

• Towson got the early advantage in set one, riding a couple of Malinah Purcell-Telefoni blocks to start up 5-2 in the first set.  At 7-4, Towson surged forward on a 3-0 run, powered by a powerful kill from Ella Sanders then an Addison Leber-Kendall Minta combo block for a 10-4 lead, inducing a Hampton timeout.
• Towson's lead held as the sides traded points back-and-forth.  Towson put together an 8-0 run on Kaitlyn Moran's serving, including another block by Purcell-Telefoni plus a block and kill from Taylor Pagan, to lead 21-8.  Kills from Minta and Tshilanda Diouf helped finish the set as Towson took game one 25-12.
• A trio of attack errors helped Hampton start set two up 4-0.  Towson looked to recover in the middle with kills from Purcell-Telefoni to stop the run, but Hampton built the advantage to 8-2.
• Back and forth the teams went as Towson chipped away to four, but five straight Pirate points, including three blocks, put the home team up 15-6.  Towson looked to fight back, taking three straight on Moran's serving, capped by an ace.
• Down 18-9, Towson roared back with seven straight points, fueled by three Diouf kills, to get back into the set at 18-16.  Hampton got back up to 21-17, then Towson took control.  The Tigers earned a set-ending 8-0 run, including three Pagan kills and a Maisie Jesse ace, to complete the set two comeback 25-21 and lead 2-0 in the match.
• Set three started with several sideouts, with Hampton getting a slight edge 7-5.  Towson's front row used some power on kills from Minta and Sarah Callender to pull Towson ahead with a 3-0 run at 8-7.
• A few errors gave the lead back to Hampton as the Pirates led 14-11.  Towson's offense got the Tigers back ahead with kills from Diouf, Callender, Sanders and Minta sending the Tigers up 20-16 after a 7-0 sprint.  The Pirates pulled to within two a couple of times, but Towson held the lead, finishing on a 3-0 run to win 25-20 and take the match.

 
Inside the Numbers

• Towson has won at least 20 matches in all but one fall season played since 2014, with 2018 being the lone exception.  All seasons were under head coach Don Metil, who is 289-91 in his 13 years with the Black & Gold.
• Tshilanda Diouf led Towson in kills in both victories at Hampton, totaling 20 kills in six sets.
• With her return to the court, Taylor Pagan earns her most amount of kills in a match since having 22 in a five-set win vs. Iona on Sept. 12.
• Towson improves to 9-0 all-time vs. Hampton.

 
Next Game
Towson returns to SECU Arena for a spooky match on Halloween night (Oct. 31) against Stony Brook at 6 p.m.  Tickets are available here.