When             Saturday, Sept. 20 at 12 p.m.
                       Sunday, Sept. 21 at 12 p.m.
Where            SECU Arena | Towson, Md.
Live Stats      TowsonTigers.com
Stream           FloCollege
Series            Charleston leads the all-time series, 14-8
 
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University volleyball team is scheduled to open Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play this weekend as the reigning CAA champion Charleston Cougars come to SECU Arena. The Tigers and Cougars will play matches on Saturday and Sunday at 12 p.m.
 
Last Week's Recap
Towson hosted its second invitational in as many weeks last Friday and Saturday to close out the early non-conference slate. The Tigers faced Iona and Princeton on Friday, and Lafayette and Penn on Saturday.
 
Against the Gaels, the Tigers won the opening set before surrendering the next. TU held an 18-13 lead in the third set but were unable to fend off Iona, who won the frame. Towson held a decisive hitting advantage in the fourth set to send it to the fifth, which the Tigers won 15-11. That evening vs. Princeton, the Black & Gold proved to be resilient, winning all three sets won by less than five points.
 
On day two, the Tigers faced Lafayette in the morning. A decisive .238 to .126 hitting edge in the match lifted the Tigers to a four-set victory. That night vs. Penn, the Tigers won the first two sets powered by strong attacking efficiency. They surrendered the third, 25-18, to the Quakers before securing the match in set four with a score of 27-25.
 
Awards Season
Towson opposite hitter Ella Sanders earned a share of the CAA Offensive Player of the Week following her 59 kill, 70 dig performance with three double-doubles last weekend at SECU Arena. She added five service aces and six blocks. Against Lafayette, the New Mexico product boasted 17 kills, 26 digs and 3 aces. Sanders is the lone player in the nation to post at least 15 kills, 25 digs and three service aces in a match, according to evollve.net.
 
Outside hitter Taylor Pagan was named a CAA Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 8 after posting 60 kills on a .307 hitting percentage in the Tigers' 4-0 weekend hosting the Towson-Morgan State Invitational, including a career-high 23 kills vs. Kent State. The Colorado State transfer finished the weekend with two double-doubles, totaling 14 kills and 10 digs vs. Quinnipiac and 15 kills and 13 digs vs. New Orleans.
 
Middle blocker Malinah Purcell-Telefoni earned the CAA Defensive Player of the Week nod on Sept. 8 after totaling 25 blocks in the Tigers' perfect weekend. She was productive on both sides of the ball, averaging 2.83 and 1.67 blocks per set in the Tigers' four wins. The freshman posted 25 kills on a .353 hitting percentage and added five service aces.
 
Among the Nation's Best
The Tigers own a 146-25 overall record dating back to 2019, giving them an 85.4% win percentage in the past six seasons. That percentage lands the Tigers at 6th overall in Division I over that span, behind only Texas, Pitt, Western Kentucky, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

Record Book Watch
On Sept. 5 vs. Quinnipiac, libero Sydney Stewart became the 18th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career digs. She's climbed to tenth all-time with 1,138 total digs for the Black & Gold.
 
Stewart could also finish among the program's all-time service ace leaders when all is said and done. She currently has 90, just ten away from becoming the program's 17th player ever to eclipse the century mark.

Metil Detector
Towson Head Coach Don Metil is the all-time winningest coach in program history with a 278-90 record dating back to 2013. Now in his 24th season as an NCAA head coach, Metil eclipsed 500 career wins in the Tigers' opening weekend sweep over Old Dominion. At his previous stops, Metil collected 145 wins at UMES, 15 at Coppin State, 30 at Lees-McRae and 40 at Notre Dame College.
            Record breakdown
            - Metil is 508-220 all-time (.698) 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: 278-90
            - Metil passed Cathy Cain as the all-time wins leader after knocking off No. 7 Pittsburgh on Sept. 10th, 2022.
            - Don Metil: 278-90 (2013-Pres.) | Cathy Cain: 201-143 (1989-98) | Chris Riley: 144-54 (2000-05)
 
Protect this House
Since moving into SECU Arena full-time in 2013, Towson has racked up an impressive 137-29 (.825) overall record at home. That total includes CAA Championship matches played at SECU Arena.
- The Black & Gold finished the 2024 regular season 16-1 at SECU Arena.
- The Tigers have eight seasons with double-digit wins, including a perfect 16-0 mark in 2022 and a 17-1 mark in 2021. In three of the 12 seasons in the arena, the Tigers didn't play at least 10 matches at home.
- Dating back to 2019, the Black & Gold have amassed a 84-7 (.923) record in the arena.
 
A League of Their Own
Since 2015, Towson has been one of the top teams in the CAA. The Tigers have recorded a 119-31 record (.793) in CAA regular season play since then, including a record-setting 16-0 mark in 2019.
-The Tigers finished league play 14-4 in 2024 with losses only to CAA Championship participant teams.
-Towson finished conference play at 16-2 in 2023, including their first three-set loss in league play since 2018.
-The Black & Gold finished with a 15-1 mark three seasons ago, going a perfect 8-0 at home.              
-Four years ago, The Tigers went 12-4 and never got swept.
2024: 14-4 | 2023: 16-2 | 2022: 15-1 | 2021: 12-4 | 2021 (spring): 2-0 | 2019: 16-0 | 2018: 10-6 | 2017: 12-4 | 2016: 10-6 | 2015: 12-4 | Total: 119-31 (.793)

Back in Black (& Gold)
The senior trio of Brothers, Stewart and Sarah Callender return to lead the Tigers into the 2025 season. Brothers and Stewart earned Preseason All-CAA nods, announced by the league office on Aug. 18.
 
Brothers earned her second Preseason All-CAA Team honor after being named an honorable mention prior to the 2024 campaign. She totaled 98 kills, 56 blocks, four assists and four digs in 65 sets over 18 matches played. The Ohio native missed the first 12 matches of the 2024 season while recovering from injury.
 
Stewart is the lone libero to receive Preseason All-CAA Team recognition. She appeared in all 30 matches for the Tigers last season, totaling 508 digs, 133 assists, 38 service aces and two kills over 111 sets. The Pennsylvania native finished third among league leaders with 4.58 digs/set. Stewart finished tied for ninth in the CAA with 0.34 service aces/set.
 
CAA Preseason Poll
Towson was picked to finish third in the CAA Preseason Poll after receiving one first place vote and finishing with 88 total points. Charleston and Hofstra edged out the Black & Gold with 92 and 90 total points, respectively. The Cougars received five first place votes while the Pride finished with four.
 
North Carolina A&T finished fourth with one first place vote and 68 total points. Stony Brook (62), William & Mary (55) and Northeastern (47) solidify the top seven. Elon (34), UNCW (30), Campbell (29) and Hampton (10) round out the group.
 
2024 Recap
Towson finished the 2024 regular season at 24-6 overall and 14-4 in CAA regular season play. The Tigers earned the No. 3 seed in the CAA Championship, hosted at SECU Arena, and after defeating the No. 6 Stony Brook Seawolves in the opening round, were knocked out by the No. 2 Delaware Blue Hens in the semifinal round in four sets.
 
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".