TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University volleyball team hit .369 en route to a three-set sweep (25-20, 25-20, 25-16) of Saint Peter's in the home opener at SECU Arena on Saturday.
Towson (3-2) has won three straight matches, holding Saint Peter's (0-6) to a .133 hitting percentage in the contest.
Key Stats
- Towson earned 52 kills in the match, including hitting .378 in set two and .531 in set three, and had eight blocks to its opponent's four. The Tigers had 19 kills with just two errors on 32 total attacks in the final game.
- Anna Rice led the Tigers up front, hitting .462 with 14 kills, five digs and four blocks while Malinah Purcell-Telefoni hit .611 with 11 kills, no attack errors, five digs and four blocks. Kaitlyn Moran notched another double-double with 26 assists and 10 digs.
- For Saint Peter's, Victoria Pruvost led the team in kills with nine, hitting .381.
Key Situations
- Set One: An early 5-0 run, fueled by two kills and a block from Anna Rice, gave Towson a 6-2 lead. Saint Peter's pulled back to within one at 8-7, where Towson rebuilt the lead to 11-7. Two more Rice kills and a Clara Vorel kill pushed Towson up 18-11. At 21-16, Saint Peter's got four straight, including two aces from Karolina T. Rodriguez Mendez, to get within one. Towson held and won the last four, two on blocks from Malinah Purcell-Telefoni, to win 25-20.
- Set Two: Set two began back and forth with neither getting an early edge. Towson got a 3-0 push off Taylor Pagan's serving, where Saint Peter's tied it back up at 10-10. At 14-13 Towson, the Tigers surged ahead with seven of the next eight points, including five kills, to earn a 21-14 advantage. Saint Peter's had a late 4-0 push to get within three at 22-19, but Towson finished strong, using two late Rice kills to win 25-20.
- Set Three: Two Purcell-Telefoni kills set up Towson early with a 7-3 lead. The sides exchanged points until at 10-8 Towson, the Tigers took four of five, then a 5-0 run off Destini Pickett's serving made it 19-10 Towson. Towson kept a strong lead as the team continued to side out down the stretch. A final Purcell-Telefoni kill won the set 25-16 and the match to Towson.
Inside the Numbers
- Anna Rice has earned double digit kills in all five matches to begin the year, hitting at least .310 in four of those matches. Her .462 vs. Saint Peter's is her best hitting percentage of the season.
- Kaitlyn Moran has notched a double-double in each of her last three matches.
- Clara Vorel has multiple blocks in all five matches this year.
Next Match
Towson takes the short trek to the Hill Field House in Baltimore to take on Morgan State tomorrow (Sept. 6) at 2 p.m.
-TowsonTigers.com-
