Elon University Volleyball (8-7) fell in four sets to the Towson Tigers (7-11) in the team’s first home CAA matchup in the Schar Center (18-25, 19-25, 25-21, 23-25). With this loss, the team’s losing streak persists to five straight.
In the first set, the Tigers jumped out on the Phoenix scoring three consecutive points early to put the set at 4-1. The teams traded blows throughout the set with their outside hitter throwing down massive kills. This was the story of the game as a whole which saw the matchup between two top CAA scorers, Senior Kam Terry for Elon and Senior Jocelyn Kuilan for Towson, facing off from the outside hitter position. Towson closed out the maroon and gold when two Tigers rose above the net to block a Terry spike, and the set ended 25-18.
The margin between the two CAA opponents became even tighter in a second set that saw nine ties and four lead changes on the scoreboard. Both teams had their share of short runs of points but for the most part, it was a back and forth affair. Though the Phoenix had strong swings from their outside hitters they were met by a stiff Tiger defense that tallied 11 blocks and 57 digs total. Meanwhile, the Towson offense found the holes in the Elon defense with 16 kills in set number two, putting the Phoenix in a 2-0 hole going into set three.
After falling to the Tigers in back-to-back sets the Phoenix, with their backs to the wall, fought their way to a crucial game three win 25-21.
“As a coach you’re like ‘why didn’t we do that from the start?’ But I was glad they were able to fight and put a couple plays together in a row,” said head coach Mary Tendler. “There was no rhythm in the first two sets, we hardly ever scored off the serve so we had to side out and never got any runs going, and in volleyball that’s pretty huge to get the momentum and once you start putting a few runs together, that’s when the other team starts pressing and makes a few errors.”
Senior outside hitter Kam Terry terrorized Towson from the wings all game long totaling 13 kills on 46 total attempts. In the third game when it mattered the most, Terry threw down five kills to propel the Phoenix to a fourth game.
“As a hitter you can’t really get a kill without a pass and a set. So it's nice to see us meshing and being able to get the ball to me in the first place so without that I don’t think I would be able to do anything I do,” Terry said.
Game four saw the intensity reach its climax. The Tigers got a quick rally right off the bat in an attempt to divert the Phoenix momentum from game three. The maroon and gold pulled to within one point late in the game 23-24 thanks to the powerful hitting of Terry as well as first year standouts Kellyn Trowse and Leah Daniel. However, the Phoenix resilience ran out when Towson’s Emily Jerome sent a ferocious last spike past Elon’s Lobero Maddie Jaudon to end the game 25-23.
The Phoenix take on the defending CAA champions, the James Madison University Dukes, on Saturday in the Schar Center. This match is a revenge game for the maroon and gold who had their season ended by the Dukes in five sets (20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 15-8) in the CAA tournament in 2017.
“For JMU, that's a team we have had a one-on-one rivalry with since my first year here. So I think the team is really looking forward to playing them especially the returners since we lost to them in 5 sets in the tournament last year. So I think it’s gonna be a really big matchup for us and I think we’re all very excited for it,” Terry said.