Matchups        Towson vs. Northeastern | Friday, Sept. 18 at 2 p.m.
                         Towson vs. Northeastern | Saturday, Sept. 19 at 12 p.m.
Location          SECU Arena | Towson, Md.
Live Stats        TowsonTigers.com
Stream             FloCollege
Tickets             vs. Northeastern
Series              Towson leads the all-time series 26-25

TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University volleyball team begins Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play against the Northeastern Huskies on Friday and Saturday at SECU Arena. The matches are slated for 2 p.m. and noon, respectively. The Tigers have won the last 13 matchups in the series dating back to Nov. 16, 2018.
 
The matches will stream live on FloCollege. Live stats can be found at TowsonTigers.com. Tickets for both matches are available here. Fans coming to Saturday's match are encouraged to park in Lot 8C (near the childcare center).
 
Scouting the Huskies
Northeastern enters league play at 2-6 overall. The Huskies swept Holy Cross at their invitational in the second week of the season and topped Dartmouth in four sets last weekend at Colgate's tournament. Northeastern has forced five-set matches in each of their last four losses.
 
Setter/opposite hitter Emma Rowell earned a preseason All-CAA selection, and middle blocker Beatrice Gennari earned an honorable mention nod as the Huskies were picked to finish seventh in the league. Rowell leads the Huskies with 3.65 kills per set on a .277 hitting mark.
 
Last Time Out
Last weekend, Towson hosted Arkansas, Robert Morris and Howard at SECU Arena for the Tiger Invitational. The Tigers matched the Razorbacks in kills before falling 26-24 in the opening frame. Arkansas won the second and third sets handily on Friday night. In the final two matches of the weekend, the Black & Gold topped Robert Morris and Howard in straight sets.
 
Taylor Pagan and Kaitlyn Moran garnered Tiger Invitational team honors after the weekend. Pagan posted a team-best 29 kills on a .302 hitting percentage. Moran amassed 64 assists, averaging 7.11 per set, and had a double-double against the Colonials on Saturday.
 
Record-Setting Crowd
Last Friday at SECU Arena, Towson volleyball welcomed a record-setting crowd of 1,161 fans to its match against Arkansas, topping the previous high of 1,012 against Rutgers on Sept. 3, 2022.
 
League Leaders
The Tigers are first among Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) statistical leaders on a per set basis in points (17.52), kills (13.81), assists, (12.90), opponent hitting percentage (.161), opponent assists (9.81) and opponent kills (10.35).
 
They stand second in hitting percentage (.268) and third in digs per set (14.13) among league leaders.
 
Preseason All-CAA Honors
The Coastal Athletic Association released its preseason All-CAA team on Aug. 19.
 
Middle blocker Malinah Purcell-Telefoni garnered a preseason All-CAA team selection after pacing the league with 117.0 total blocks in her freshman campaign. Her 1.04 blocks per set mark ranked third among CAA players. Purcell-Telefoni amassed 182 kills, averaging 1.63 per set, on a .275 hitting percentage, also a top mark among 2025 league leaders. She added 24 aces and 10 assists in 112 sets.
 
Outside hitter Taylor Pagan nabbed a preseason All-CAA honorable mention. Despite missing ten matches last season, Pagan averaged 2.73 kills per set on a .231 hitting mark. In 64 sets, the Florida native totaled 175 kills, 14 assists and eight service aces.
 
In the CAA preseason poll, the Tigers were picked to finish third after garnering two first place votes. Charleston and Hofstra finished first and second, respectively, while North Carolina A&T, Campbell and Stony Brook rounded out the projected CAA Championship teams.
 
Back in Black (& Gold)
The Tigers feature nine returners from 2025, highlighted by Purcell-Telefoni and Pagan. Other returners include Natalia PeBenito, Ava Drye, Addie Leber, Tshilanda Diouf, Peyton Meyer, Destini Pickett and Katlyn Moran.
 
The Tigers are returning 39.6% of their kill production and 45.8% of their assist production from 2025 with the losses of major contributors.
 
On the defensive side, they bring back 25.9% of their dig production and 59.3% of their block production.
 
Earning Stripes
The Tigers' newcomer group is highlighted by transfer additions of outside hitter Anna Rice from TCU, opposite hitter Bjanka Stojanovic from Georgia Tech, middle blocker Lilia Duczek from Hofstra and libero Megan Platt from Wheeling. Rice was ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the state of Oklahoma out of high school.
 
Among the Tigers' five incoming freshman, middle blocker Clara Vorel earned 2025 Georgia Volleyball Coaches Association (GVCA) Class 5A Co-Player of the Year. Other first-year additions include setter Kamree Orizotti, who set the Oregon high school all-time career assists record with 3,567 assists, outside hitter Nola Duncan, libero Kayla Zanon and outside hitter Evi Priniotaki.
 
Metil Detector
Towson Head Coach Don Metil is the all-time winningest coach in program history with a 296-98 (.751) record dating back to 2013. Now in his 25th season as an NCAA head coach, Metil is 526-228 (.698). Metil was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coach of the Year in 2019 after winning Towson's first-ever NCAA Tournament game vs. American and finishing the season at 29-3. He boasts four CAA Coach of the Year awards during his tenure at TU: 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2022.
Record breakdown
- Metil is 526-228 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: 296-98
- Metil passed Cathy Cain as Towson's all-time wins leader after knocking off No. 7 Pittsburgh on Sept. 10th, 2022.
- Metil surpassed 500 career NCAA wins vs. Old Dominion on Aug. 30, 2025.
 
Protect this House
Since moving into SECU Arena full-time in 2013, Towson has racked up an impressive 145-34 (.810) overall record at home. That total includes CAA Championship matches played at SECU Arena. Dating back to 2019, the Black & Gold have amassed a 91-12 (.883) record in the arena.
 
2025 Recap
After dropping the first two matches of the 2025 season, Towson followed with 18 consecutive match wins and finished the regular season at 21-6. The Tigers finished the league slate at 12-4, earning the No. 3 seed in the CAA Championship. They faced No. 6 Stony Brook in their opening match of the tournament, falling three sets to one at SECU Arena.