TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University volleyball team hosted the reigning CAA champion Charleston Cougars at SECU Arena on Saturday afternoon to open Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) regular season play.
 
Towson (10-2, 1-0 CAA) took the two opening sets of the match to get out to an early lead. Charleston (6-5, 0-1 CAA) evened the score in the third and fourth sets, sending the match to a fifth and final set. The Tigers opened the fifth set with a 5-3 lead, doubled it to 10-6 and held on to win, 15-13.
 
Records:

• Towson – 10-2, 1-0 CAA
• Charleston – 6-5, 0-1 CAA

 
Key Stats

• Towson held a .188 to .127 hitting percentage advantage in the match. In the two opening sets, the Tigers held Charleston to a .000 hitting percentage.
• The Tigers finished the match with 69 kills to the Cougars' 46. The Cougars won the third and fourth sets by limiting themselves to a combined five hitting errors to Towson's 19 in the same stretch.
• Charleston had 15 blocks to Towson's seven.

 
How it Happened

• Towson scored the opening point of the match before the teams traded three point runs to get the score to 4-3.
• After Charleston sided out, the Tigers scored ten of the next 11 points to push their lead to 14-5.
• The Cougars used a few short runs over the next part of the frame to cut their deficit to 19-17.
• The teams traded two point runs to push the score to 21-19.
• Towson closed the set on a four-point run, powered by two Erin Brothers kills and a Sarah Callender service ace in the run.
• Charleston opened set two with a 5-4 lead before a three-point TU run gave the Tigers a 7-5 lead.
• The Cougars pulled the score within one at 8-7.
• Towson scored eight unanswered points to extend its lead to 16-7.
• After a Charleston side out, the Tigers scored four straight points to push their lead to 20-8.
• Towson closed the set on a 5-4 run to win the second set, 25-12.
• The Cougars opened the third set with a 4-1 lead before four straight TU points gave the Tigers a 5-4 lead.
• Charleston followed that with eight unanswered points to take a 12-5 lead.
• After trading six points each, the Tigers scored three of four points to pull within five at 19-14.
• Charleston won set three, 25-22, to send the match to a fourth set.
• The Cougars opened the fourth set with a 9-3 lead before the Tigers scored three of the next four points to pull the score to 10-6.
• Charleston scored four unanswered points to push its lead to 14-6.
• Down 23-13, the Tigers scored four straight points to pull within six points.
• The Cougars scored their final two points of the set on Towson errors to send the match to a fifth and final set.
• Charleston opened the fifth set with a 3-2 lead before three-straight Towson points gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead.
• The teams traded two point runs before a Charleston side-out pulled them within one at 7-6.
• Towson scored five of the next six points to extend the lead to 12-7.
• The Cougars scored four unanswered points to pull within one at 12-11.
• The Tigers closed the set on a 3-2 run to win the final set, 15-13. Sarah Callender cemented the win with a kill to secure the match three sets to two.

 
Inside the Numbers

• Three Tigers finished with double digit kills in the match: Ella Sanders (18), Erin Brother (14) and Addison Leber (11). No Cougars finished with double digit kills.
• Erin Brothers finished with a match-high .429 hitting percentage among qualified attackers.
• Leber's 11 total kills is her first collegiate match with double digit kills.

 
Up Next
The Tigers wrap up their series vs. Charleston tomorrow at 12 p.m. at SECU Arena.