University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware Volleyball Takes Opening Set Before Towson Rallies For 3-1 Victory in CAA Match
10/26/2012 2:33:00 PM | Volleyball
The Tigers, who extended their winning streak to 15 matches, improved to 22-3 overall and a perfect 9-0 in conference play. The Blue Hens had their four-match win streak snapped while falling to 12-13 overall and 6-3 in the league.
Katy Buck and I'ishah Keliikoa each recorded 14 kills against just one attack error to lead Towson, which hit an impressive .338 for the match. Marta Machos added 13 kills while Karolina Sawaniewicz contributed 10, as both players also committed just one attack error on the night. Five players reached double figures in digs for the Tigers led by Aniris Fernandez who posted a team-high 15, while Aubrey Kirven handed out a match-best 57 assists.
UD junior outside hitter Katie Hank (at right) led the Blue Hens with 12 kills while committing just one attack error to hit .367 for Delaware, which had a six-match home winning streak halted. Senior middle hitter Chelsea Lawrence also had 12 kills to hit .320 on the night, while Alissa Alker added 12 kills and Katie Hillman had 11 for the Blue Hens. Freshman libero Ariel Shonk led all players with 16 digs during the contest, while Alker had 13 and Mackenzie Olsen dished out 43 assists.
The first set was extremely tight early on, before the Blue Hens scored three of four points to take a 10-8 lead. However the Tigers pulled even at 12-12, and neither team led by more than one point until the set was knotted at 23-23. But Alker posted a kill for Delaware, while Hillman and Lawrence combined to block the Tigers' Dayane Van Ass to give the Blue Hens the one-set lead. The set marked just the fourth set Towson has dropped in its nine CAA matches this season.
Delaware carried that momentum into the second set, using an early eight-point run to claim a commanding 11-1 advantage. Towson closed to within 11-4, but Delaware scored six of the next nine points to go back up double digits at 17-7. However the Tigers would take over from there, exploding for a 13-3 spurt to knot the set at 20-20. After each team scored a point the Tigers then ran off three straight, and after a Towson service error, Machos put the set away with a kill.
The Blue Hens jumped out to a 7-4 margin in the third stanza, before the Tigers countered to even the set at 10-10. The set would remain close the rest of the way, as the teams were still tied at 21-21 following a block by the Blue Hens' Hillman and Lawrence. However Towson would take the next three points, and following an Alker kill, the Tigers' Alysha McCreary delivered a kill to give the Tigers a two sets to one advantage.
Towson won eight of the first 12 points of the fourth set, and would not trail the entire frame. Delaware closed within 11-7 on a kill by Hank, but the Tigers then ran off five consecutive points to go up 16-7. Towson led by as many as 12 points during the set, while the match ended on an attack error by Alker.
Delaware, which sits in third place in the CAA despite the loss, will take a week off before heading to Georgia State next Friday, November 2 for a 7 p.m. match with the Panthers.
