NORFOLK, Va. – The Towson University volleyball team opened play this season on Friday in the Quest for the Crown, hosted by Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va.
 
The Tigers faced West Virginia in the opening match of the season, and following a nine-point first set victory, fell in four sets. Taylor Pagan finished with a team-high 11 kills.
 
Against Fairfield, the Tigers won two straight sets after dropping the first. The Stags forced a fifth set and scored six of the final seven points in the fifth to win, 15-13.
 
Records:

• Towson – 0-2
• West Virginia – 1-0
• Fairfield – 2-0

 
Key Stats vs. West Virginia

• Towson had 18 kills and just two attack errors in the first set, producing a .533 hitting percentage in the set win.
• Over the final three sets, the Tigers were limited to 21 kills and produced 28 errors, leading to three-straight set wins for the Mountaineers.

 
How it Happened vs. West Virginia

• West Virginia scored three of the first four points and held a 6-4 lead after ten points.
• The Tigers scored six of the next seven points, with Ella Sanders (3), Malinah Purcell-Telefoni (2) and Taylor Pagan picking up kills.
• The Mountaineers won five of the next seven points to knot things up at 12.
• The Tigers closed the opening set on a 13-4 run to win, 25-16.
• After building a 5-2 lead to start the second set, the Tigers lost four-straight to give WVU a 6-5 lead.
• Towson won four the next six to retake the lead at 9-8.
• The Mountaineers closed the set on an 11-0 run to win the second set, 25-11.\
• Towson responded to start the third set, winning five of the first six points.
• An 8-1 Mountaineer run later in the set gave them a 14-10 lead.
• West Virginia scored 11 of the final 14 points of the third set to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
• With a one-point lead in the fourth set, a 9-0 West Virginia run propelled them to a 3-1 victory in the match.

 
Key Stats vs. Fairfield

• Despite the Tigers finishing the match with five more kills, the Stags held a slight attacking percentage in the match, .261-.249.
• Four Tigers finished with double-digit kills in the match: Erin Brothers (18), Sarah Callender (16), Ella Sanders (15) and Taylor Pagan (13).

 
How it Happened vs. Fairfield

• In a back-and-forth first set with only three runs of at least three points, the Stags' 2-1 advantage proved decisive for the opening set victory.
• After falling in a 10-6 hole in the second set, the Tigers scored five straight points to take an 11-10 lead.
• Another five-point run later in the set gave the Tigers a four-point advantage at 19-15. A 6-5 advantage to close the set knotted the score at one.
• Similar to the first set, there were only three runs of at least three points in the third set. The Tigers had two of those three runs to take a 2-1 lead.
• After getting out to an 8-3 lead in the fourth set, the Tigers surrendered eight of the next ten points, giving the Stags an 11-10 lead.
• Fairfield forced a fifth set with a 25-22 win.
• The Black & Gold built a lead scoring five of the first six points of the deciding set.
• In a 12-9 deficit late in the set, the Stags scored six of the last seven points to win the final set 15-13.

 
Up Next
The Tigers face Old Dominion tomorrow at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.