BLACKSBURG, Va. – Juniors Katy Buck and Dayane Van Ass
had 14 kills each to lead the Towson University volleyball team to a 3-0 win
over Harvard and a split of the team's matches on Saturday at the Hokie
Classic. In their first match on Saturday, the Tigers (6-2) fell to Middle
Tennessee, 3-1.
Buck was named to the all-tournament team after recording
37 kills, hit .302 and recorded 23 digs in the three matches..
In the first set against the Blue Raiders (3-3) a couple
of kills with a few Tiger errors allowed Middle Tennessee to take a 16-10 lead.
Senior Marta Machos and Buck rattled off four straight kills to bring the
Tigers to within 16-14. Middle Tennessee held off the late Towson run to win
the first set 25-20. There were six ties in the second set, however the Blue
Raiders hit .364 to Towson's .294 and claimed the 26-24 set win and a 2-0
advantage in the match. The Tigers put together a strong third set as they hit
.364 en route to a 25-20 set win. The fourth set was again a back and forth
match-up as there were six ties and four lead changes. Middle Tennessee claimed
the 25-16 set win and took the match, 3-1.
Senior Alysha McCreary hit .625 in the match to go along
with her kills and had four block assists. Buck finished with 14 kills and six
digs while Van Ass came off the bench to post 10 kills. Senior Aubrey Kirven
contributed 46 assists and four digs while sophomore Paige Sekerak had 11 digs.
Chelsea Ross led the Blue Raiders with 23 kills and nine
digs while Ashley Adams had 13 kills.
In the match against Harvard, the two teams found
themselves tied at 16-16. A pair of kills from Van Ass and one from I'ishah Keliikoa allowed Towson to close the set on a 9-2 run and post a 25-18 win. The
Tigers trailed 24-22 in the second set before recording the final four kills of
the set, including the deciding one from Buck to take a 26-24 win. Towson held
a 2-0 lead in the match following that set. In the third set tied at 14-14,
Towson used a 6-0 run to take a 20-14 lead. Buck had three kills during the run
for the Tigers. A kill from senior Karolina Sawaniewicz allowed the Tigers to
win the third set 25-16 and claim victory in the match.
Buck had nine digs against Harvard to go along with her
14 kills. Van Ass hit .379 en route to her 14 kills while Sawanieiwicz finished
with 12 kills. Kirven contributed a “double-double” with 44 assists and 12 digs
while senior Stacey Niehoff had 10 digs.
Taylor Docter led Harvard with 11 kills.
Towson returns to action on Friday, September 7 when the
Tigers face Texas Tech in the first match of the Montana Tournament.
