Volleyball Falls in Four Sets at Towson

Friday, October 29

Towson, Md.

7 PM

University of Delaware

11-11,6-7CAA

Towson

20-3,8-3CAA

Delaware

Towson

Photo by: Mark Campbell

10/29/2021 10:10:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

TOWSON, Md. – The University of Delaware volleyball team fell 3-1 (11-25, 25-23, 14-25, 21-25) to the CAA defending champions Towson (20-3, 8-3 CAA) in a conference road battle Friday evening inside SECU Arena in Towson, Md.

The Blue Hens (11-11, 6-7 CAA) put together their finest attacking set in the second and fourth set, .229 and .303, respectively. Towson finished the match with a .283 hitting percentage and led the way in points (75-57), kills (54-44), aces (9-5), blocks (12-8), assists (48-41) and digs (53-44).

Grace Underwood opened the match's scoring by burying Lily Rogers' feed for Delaware to take the early 1-0 lead. Towson immediately went on a 12-2 scoring spurt to take a commanding nine-point lead, 12-3. A Mackenzie Sobczyk kill gave the Blue Hens their 11th point before the Tigers scored three straight to capture the set one victory, 25-11.

The Blue Hens shook off some nerves and proved they can be a force to be reckoned with. The back-and-forth battle commenced when Delaware took a narrow two-point lead after Lauryn Richardson nailed down Ezgi Basaranlar's feed, 9-7. Towson then used a 10-3 run to regain the lead, 17-12. Delaware rallied behind Richardson, where she scored five of the Blue Hens' 10 points, to make it a 22-all game. With 23-22 showing in favor of the Tigers, Richardson's kill helped Delaware score three-straight, 25-23, and knot the match at one set apiece.

Towson opened the third frame with a 7-3 run capped by Lydia Wiers' ace. Basaranlar connected with Richardson to ignite a 5-0 Blue Hen run to take the 8-7 lead. Nikiya Mitchell nailed down a kill for the Tigers to answer with an 18-6 streak to earn the 25-14 set three win.

Delaware regrouped entering the fourth set using a much-needed 4-0 run capped by a Richardson and Underwood block assist. Towson trimmed the deficit with a 5-1 run to tie the game at five. The seesaw battle began as the set saw four ties and three lead changes. Lani Mason put away Basaranlar's assist and followed with an ace for the Blue Hens' last lead of the night, 16-15. The Tigers scored six-consecutive points to take the lead for good, 21-16. With Towson holding on to match point, 24-18, the Blue Hens attempted a rally, scoring three straight off of kills by Claire Flood, Sobczyk and Basaranlar. The Tigers went on to settle the 25-21 final with Fay Bakodimou's kill.

Richardson finished with a season-high 14 kills to go with four block assists and three digs to pace Delaware. Mason followed with 11 kills and 10 digs to post her seventh double-double on the season. Basaranlar directed the Blue Hens' offense with 28 assists to go with five digs while Katie Turner anchored the defense with 11 digs.

Emily Jarome led the way with 15 kills and 11 digs in Towson's win. Bakodimou chipped in with 12 kills and five digs. Megan Wilson and Kristin Spengler dished out 25 and 15 assists, respectively, while Rachel Hess scooped up a match-high 16 digs.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Blue Hens will close out their regular-season road schedule Sunday, Oct. 31, and will face Towson again for a CAA showdown inside SECU Arena in Towson, Md. at 1 p.m.

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