Volleyball Wins Fifth CAA Tournament Championship With Victory Over Towson

Saturday, November 18

Towson, MD

7:00 PM

University of Delaware

24-4,15-3CAA

No. 1 Towson

24-6,16-2CAA

Delaware

Towson

Photo by: Gavin Bethell

Volleyball Wins Fifth CAA Tournament Championship With Victory Over Towson

11/18/2023 11:31:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

TOWSON, Md. - No. 2 seeded University of Delaware volleyball won their fifth CAA Conference Tournament Championship by defeating No. 1 seeded Towson in four sets (25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17) on Nov. 18, 2023. With the win, Delaware has earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, set to begin on Nov. 30. Delaware also won their 15th consecutive game, a new program record.

HEN HIGHLIGHTS

Lani Mason had a game-high 20 kills and recorded 10 digs and four blocks.
Madelyn Grunza recorded 14 kills.
Kirah Johnson recorded 6 kills and two blocks.
Ezgi Basaranlar had 44 assists, two kills, and 10 digs.
Savannah Seemans recorded 10 kills, 18 digs. and three aces.
Gha'Naye Whitfield-Moss had nine kills and five blocks.
Eileen Gex had a team-high 22 digs.
Amelia Painter had nine digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST SET

A back-and-forth opening set that featured 16 ties and eight lead changes resulted in a Delaware 25-22 win. Delaware scored three straight points early on to go up 11-10, then with the score tied at 17, Seemans and Mason both recorded kills and a Towson attack error put them up 20-17.
Towson scored two straight points, but kills by Mason and Whitfield-Moss and an ace by Wright resulted in another 3-0 spurt before Mason finished the set off with a kill.
Mason had seven kills in the opening set and hit .538, while Basaranlar had 12 assists and Seemans had seven digs.

SECOND SET

Set two was also highly contested, with 15 ties and five lead changes. Towson pulled out to a 10-8 lead and bumped it up to 15-11. Three Towson attack errors and two kills by Grunza highlighted a 5-0 run to give Delaware the lead back.
Towson responded with three straight points to go back ahead, and the score was tied at 22 before Towson scored the set's final three points.
Grunza had four assists in the set, and Mason, Whitfield-Moss, and Johnson all had three kills. Basaranlar had 14 assists and Gex had six digs.

THIRD SET

Towson took an early 8-4 lead and extended it to 14-8. Seemans started a 6-0 run with a kill and picked up two aces, while Mason had two kills and a block assist with Johnson to tie the set.
Towson then went up 21-17, but the Blue Hens once again answered with another 6-0 run to take the lead. Grunza had three straight kills during the run, while Seemans picked up two and Whitfield-Moss had one. Towson tied the set at 23 before Grunza and Mason had back-to-back kills to put Delaware up 2-1.
Mason had seven kills in the set, while Grunza had six. Basaranlar had 12 more assists and Gex had eight digs.

FOURTH SET

Delaware took control of set four right away, going up 7-3. With Delaware leading 9-6, Delaware scored eight of the next nine points to take a 17-8 lead. Seemans highlighted the stretch with two kills and an ace.
Towson got the lead down to 21-15, but Johnson and Mason recorded kills down the stretch before Basaranlar sealed the title with a kill.
Mason had three kills in the set, while Grunza, Whitfield-Moss, Basaranlar, and Seemans each had a pair. Delaware hit .364 in the set.

GAME NOTES

Delaware's title was their fifth in program history, having also done it in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011.
Delaware is one of three schools to have five CAA Tournament Championships, joining William & Mary, George Mason, James Madison, and Towson.
Delaware has the most CAA Tournament Championships since winning their first in 2007 and are tied with Towson for most championships since 2001, when Delaware joined the CAA.
Delaware won their 15th consecutive game, a new program record. They previously had won 14 straight from Oct. 3-Nov. 21, 2010. Delaware has also won 15 consecutive games against CAA opponents.
Delaware is one of 10 teams to currently have a 15-match win streak. Their nine-match road win streak is tied for the fourth longest in all of Division I, trailing only Nebraska, Dayton, and Towson at 10.
Delaware improved their record to 14-1 away from home.
Delaware became the first team ever to win two games against Towson in SECU Arena in a season since the venue opened in 2013.
Delaware's 24 wins are their most in a season since winning 26 in 2010.
Delaware has also won 15 consecutive games against CAA opponents.
Mason recorded her fifth 20-kill game of the season and her 15th double-double, including her third straight. She now has 1,548 career kills.
Basaranlar recorded her 1,000 assist of the season during the match, her second career 1,000-assist season (2019). She is up to 3,927 for her career.
Gex had her fifth game this season with at least 20 assists, and her second consecutive. It's the first time she had two straight 20-dig games since having 28 and 20 against Charleston and William & Mary during the quarterfinals and semifinals of the 2022 CAA Championship.
Seemans had her seventh double-double of the season and her 11th game with at least three aces.
Whitfield-Moss had her fifth game with at least five blocks.
Delaware improved to 5-4 in the Championship Game of the CAA Tournament.

CAA All-Tournament Team

Mason was named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament, while Basaranlar and Grunza were named members of the All-Tournament Team.
Mason joined Megan Welch (2007), Jess Chason (2008), Katie Dennehy (2010), and Kim Stewart (2011) as CAA Tournament Most Outstanding Players.
Mason's and Basaranlar's All-Tournament honors were the second of their careers, having also earned it last year.
Mason had a tournament-best 37 kills and 41 points. She had 4.63 kills per set and 21 digs to go for 2.63 digs per set. She also had six total blocks.
Basaranlar led the tournament with 87 assists to go with 10.88 assists per set.
Grunza had 27 kills, hit .310, and recorded six total blocks.

Up Next: Delaware earned the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament and will learn its fate in the big dance on Sunday, November 26, at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.

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