The Towson University women’s volleyball team defeated American in five sets (25-23, 15-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-12) on Friday in University Park, Pennsylvania, for the program’s first NCAA tournament victory.
Towson (29-2), the Colonial Athletic Association champion, trailed 7-5 in the fifth set of a first-round match against Patriot League champion American (24-8). The Tigers rallied with a 5-0 run, and the set was later tied at 12. Towson earned the final three points to win the tiebreaker, 15-12, and take the five-set victory.
The Tigers advanced to the second round and will face host and No. 11 seed Penn State on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Baltimore native Olivia Finckel (Dulaney) had a career-high 23 kills, hitting .362 in the match, including five kills in the tiebreaker set. The senior added five blocks and six digs.
Marrisa Wonders earned a double double with 49 assists and 15 digs, adding a pair of kills. Lydia Wiers hit .333 with 11 kills and six blocks. Silvia Grassini, Emily Jarome and Annie Ertz had eight kills each while Camryn Allen (Centennial) picked up 11 digs at libero.