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TigersTigers

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Everything posted by TigersTigers

  1. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    Another non-surprise. Cajic completed her 4 years with Towson, becoming the single best player in program history in the process. She will move on to a very strong program; the Lady Vols made the Elite 8 last season and are an outside contender for the National Championship. At the very least, this graduate season in the SEC will bolster her resume, and she has the potential to land a big contract in one of Europe’s top leagues in the near future. Best of luck to her.
  2. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    None of these others are particularly surprising or damaging. Sara Wasiakowska and Aayinde Smith are both graduating from Towson and moving on to grad school, and got proper senior night send-offs. Jas Purakal is a backup Defensive Specialist who rarely played.
  3. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    Big loss. Towson has not had a starting-caliber player voluntarily leave the program before graduating since 2014. One starter was kicked off the team in 2017, and one graduated a season early in 2019. Other than that, there has been extremely low turnover in the starting lineup from season-to-season. There has been considerably higher attrition among non-starters, in large part because the starting lineup never changes. Don is an all-or-nothing coach, you’re either one of his favorites or you’re not. It’ll be interesting to see where they go from here; since Don arrived Towson has been extremely savvy and active in the transfer market, picking up a boatload of high level players from the portal. I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened again.
  4. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    And the run comes to an end. Congratulations to Delaware, who played an unreal match and deserved the victory. Statistically speaking, Towson actually played a good match too. It was high level volleyball and Delaware are a team worthy of ending the dynasty. Nina Cajic, Irbe Lazda, Aayinde Smith, Rachel Hess, and a few others now say goodbye to the Towson program. I want to congratulate all of them on forming the nucleus of the best Towson Volleyball teams of all time, and wish them all the best of luck in the future. As for those who do return, we can’t pout forever. There is still a lot of talent in that gym, and the Tigers will compete again for the title next season. Onward we march.
  5. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    With a 3-0 beatdown of Stony Brook, Towson advances to their fifth CAA title match in a row. CAA POTY Nina Cajic led the way with 14 kills on ridiculous efficiency, and the Tigers completely outclassed the Seawolves to head back to the big one. Delaware awaits after a 3-1 win over Campbell in the second semifinal. These have been the two best teams all year, and they split their two regular season meetings as well. It’ll be a fun one; if you’re in the area, head on over to SECU and catch this one live at 7pm ET!
  6. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    Yes, I would say that. The tournament is the tournament, and anything can happen, no matter who you are. But this Towson team has clearly gotten better over the course of the season, mainly on the defensive side of the ball. Sydney Stewart has improved significantly in her first season as the starting libero, and the block does a great job of funneling attacks to our back row defenders. It is not surprising at all that this team leads the conference in hitting percentage, hitting almost .300 as a team (good for 7th in the nation). But it IS surprising that they also lead the conference in opponent hitting percentage (the best indicator of a team’s overall defensive strength), holding CAA opponents to just .154 hitting for the season. The shakiness and personnel uncertainty of nonconference is gone, and I really like the way this team has been playing the last month. One more note: The Tigers did lose one of their starting Middles, Erin Brothers, to an apparent knee injury during Saturday’s match against Northeastern. I can’t say for certain what the injury was, but it looked bad and she did not dress on Sunday. My guess is that she will miss the rest of the season. Brothers had been having a great Sophomore season, so it’s definitely an untimely and unfortunate injury for her. In her place, we got to see Junior Ylenia de Mango start for the first time this year on Sunday, and she did not look out of place at all. A tough injury, but definitely not an insurmountable one.
  7. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    A wild final weekend has brought the CAA regular season to a close, and the tournament field has finally solidified. There's a lot to unpack here, so I'll start with the good guys. Towson managed to maintain their grip on the #1 seed and the outright regular-season championship with two dominant victories over Northeastern, meaning they have ensured that the CAA tournament will return to SECU Arena for a 5th consecutive year in 2024. Early-season reports that the Tigers' best years are behind them have proven to be greatly exaggerated; they are 23-5, 16-2 in conference, and are the favorites to return to the NCAA tournament. However, this will be the strongest tournament field that the Tigers have faced since their winning run began in 2019. Anybody can beat anybody in this bracket. Before Towson's run, this conference was rife with parity from 2012-2018, and it appears to be on its way to returning to the status quo. Here are the final standings: Towson (16-2) Delaware (15-3) Campbell (13-5) Charleston (11-7) Stony Brook (11-7) Northeastern (9-9) UNCW (9-9) Hofstra (8-10) William & Mary (8-10) NC A&T (6-12) Elon (2-16) Hampton (0-16) Northeastern closed out their Sunday loss against and immediately turned their heads to the scoreboard, where they needed a couple results to fall their way in order to get into the tournament. W&M and Hofstra were both still mathematically alive on Sunday, and Northeastern needed both to lose to get in. Lo and behold, they got their wish. UNCW, who was already eliminated going into Sunday, completed a weekend sweep over the Tribe to end their season prematurely. Stony Brook, already having clinched with their Saturday win over the Pride, did their part as well, sweeping Hofstra in a heated match on Sunday, including a wacky ending to the 3rd set. Hofstra thought they had won it 25-23, only to have the final point be overturned by a challenge, followed by two rather fortuitous consecutive aces to end the match. The quick turnaround left the Hofstra players totally stunned and many of them were visibly angry. It was the final nail in the coffin for a season that turned out to be a total calamity in Hempstead. Hofstra had the 3rd-most talented roster in the league this season. For them to not even make the tournament is a failure of epic proportions, the biggest of Emily Mansur's career. Excluding the anomalous COVID season, this will be the first time since 2011 that the Pride will not be in the CAA tournament. For such a strong program and group of players to go 14-2 the season prior and follow it up by immediately missing the tournament with a BETTER roster is nothing short of complete disaster. Emily Mansur is a great coach, but if this happened in the P5, or in a sport with more money involved, she would be fired. Hofstra's pain turned out to be Northeastern's gain, as they benefitted from the chaos to sneak into the tournament field, winning the tiebreaker over UNCW. Now, all the dust has settled and the bracket is set. It will play out like this: Thursday, 11/16: #4 CofC vs. #5 Stony Brook (Winner plays #1 Towson) #3 Campbell vs. #6 Northeastern (Winner plays #2 Delaware) The stage is set. Now it's time for the fun part!
  8. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    Two 3-dongs against Elon push the Tigers to 14-2 with one week to go in the regular season. It’s honestly sad to see the state of Elon right now; this is a team that was 3 points away from winning the CAA in 2021, and the only team that beat Towson in 2022. Now, with some of the same players still in the lineup as in 2021, they are an absolute doormat. It’s unfortunate that they have not been able to sustain that short window of success. During today’s match, Towson messed around with the lineup for Senior Day and still easily beat them. That said, entering the final two matches, the playoff race looks like this: Towson (14-2), Delaware (13-3), and Campbell (11-5) are in Stony Brook (9-7), Charleston (9-7), and Northeastern (9-7) would be in if the season ended today Hofstra (8-8), W&M (8-8), and UNCW (7-9) are still alive NC A&T (6-10), Elon (2-14), and Hampton (0-16) are eliminated The matchups for next week: Towson@Northeastern, Delaware@Elon, Campbell@NC A&T, Stony Brook@Hofstra, Charleston@Hampton, W&M@UNCW Northeastern has historically been a tough place to play for Towson, but I’d bet on these Tigers to win at least one match in Boston. If they do so, they will be the #1 seed. Northeastern could be in trouble; two losses would put them at 9-9, teetering right on the edge of where you need to be to make it in. Delaware vs. Elon holds little consequence, but Delaware could snatch the #1 seed with two wins and two Towson losses. Two wins would also guarantee the Blue Hens the #2 seed, which would give them a first-round bye. Campbell vs. A&T is also meaningless, save for the minuscule chance that Delaware loses twice and Campbell is able to snatch the #2 seed. That won’t happen, so the Camels are pretty much locked in to conclude an impressive debut campaign by taking the #3 seed. Charleston can rest easy after two huge victories against Hofstra this weekend. they will get in comfortably with two freebies over Hampton, most likely as the #4 seed. The Cougars have been trending in the right direction, and will be a tough out in the tournament. Hofstra has totally underperformed, and now needs to beat Stony Brook twice to get in. One win for the Seawolves clinches a berth. The sheer fact that Hofstra has must-win games in Week 9 means this season has been a mess for them. They are a better team than Stony Brook, but I’m not taking anything for granted here. W&M and UNCW are both currently on the outside looking in, despite both having exceeded expectations this season. The Seahawks absolutely have to win both matches to have a chance to get in, and even that might not be enough. The Tribe are in better shape; two wins likely puts them in, although it’s technically not a 100% guarantee. One win would put them at 9-9, at which point it’d be up to fate. All in all, this has been a fantastic CAA season. The league is much deeper than it was a year ago. There is competition at the top, a logjam in the middle of the pack, and 10 of the 12 teams have proven capable of putting up a fight. This will be an exciting final week, and the tournament is sure to be quite unpredictable as well.
  9. What a way to win their first title ever! They decided to dial the drama up to 11, falling behind early before their two impact players all season long brought them back. Nia Christopher scored a bizarre goal that barely crossed the goal line to level the game in the first half, before Phoebe Canoles turned in a delightful Jasmine Hamid cross with 10 minutes to go. Finally, Riley Melendez, the goalkeeper that has kept Towson in so many games throughout her career, had the biggest moment of them all, saving a penalty right at the final whistle. They could go on a volleyball-esque run and win several more titles in a row, but none of them will compare to this one. What a day to be a Tiger!
  10. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    Two more wins on the road against A&T allow the Tigers to keep their hold on first place with just two weeks left in the regular season. After expanding the conference tournament to 8 teams last year, it has been re-compressed down to its traditional 6-team format. With that in mind, the standings look like this: 1. Towson - 12-2 2. Delaware - 11-3 3. Campbell - 9-5 T4. Hofstra and Northeastern - 8-6 T6. W&M, Stony Brook, UNCW, CofC - 7-7 10. NC A&T - 6-8 Elon and Hampton are irrelevant Quite the logjam around that last playoff spot. It’ll be a tense end to the season for half the league.
  11. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    The CAA currently sits 22nd out of 33 conferences this season, which is lower than I expected. IMO, this somewhat goes to demonstrate that the RPI is an imperfect system. The Patriot League sits at 14th, and anybody who knows volleyball would never put the Patriot League ahead of the CAA. Last season, the CAA ended up 19th, and the league is CLEARLY better this season. The conference peaked at 8 in 2015, and has reliably been somewhere between 12-17 since then. In 2021, the league was 12th, but the overall RPI took a hit with JMU’s departure and the entrance of the mediocre Stony Brook and A&T, and the embarrassing Hampton. Campbell was a positive addition this year, and I think the league will rebound and finish above the 19th of last year. As for traditionally strong midmajor conferences, the WCC, AAC, Sun Belt, and Mountain West are always strong. After them, despite its low rating these last two seasons, the CAA is still a relatively well-regarded league, in large part thanks to the strength of Towson. When comparing it to leagues with athletic departments of similar sizes, the CAA outperforms and is held in better esteem than the ASUN, SoCon, Patriot League, Ivy League, America East, etc.
  12. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    Not that this matters at all, but just kind of a fun little circumstance: for the first time in what feels like forever, Towson is not the highest ranked CAA team in the RPI. They moved up 8 spots to 76 this week, but that is still 9 spots behind Delaware at 67. The conference’s overall RPI has steadily risen as the season has gone on; Campbell is on a good run and is up to 111, and Hofstra and Northeastern both sit around 150. This is a pretty big improvement from last year, although still considerably worse than where the conference stood from 2013-2017, when there would consistently be 4 or 5 CAA teams in the top 120. Like I said, this doesn’t really matter at all right now, as no CAA team has a chance at an at-large tournament birth, unlike last year.
  13. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    During a wonderful week for Towson athletics, Volleyball does their part by picking up two effortless sweeps at home. I didn’t even watch these matches; Stony Brook had zero chance of beating Towson, and there was plenty else going on more deserving of my attention than these two ass-kickings. The Tigers now sit at 17-5, 10-2, one match ahead of both Delaware and Campbell at 9-3. W&M, Northeastern, and UNCW are all 7-5, while Hofstra is surprisingly tied for 7th with A&T and Charleston (who are both not good) at 6-6. In my opinion, Hofstra is as good of a team as Delaware and Campbell, but they keep losing. Towson is pretty much guaranteed to get to the last weekend of conference play in first place at 14-2, as their next two opponents are the mediocre A&T and the downright abhorrent Elon.
  14. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    Two easy road wins this weekend at UNCW see the Tigers finish the week in sole possession of first place after 10 matches. A couple reminders here: 1) The regular season is now 18 matches long instead of 16, meaning we’ve just passed the halfway point, and 2) The regular season title is extremely important, as it dictates who hosts the tournament the following year. Towson is currently in a relatively easy part of the schedule, as their next 3 weekends are against Stony Brook, A&T, and Elon. After this stretch they will finish with a tough road weekend at Northeastern, who sits just one game behind them in the standings.
  15. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    I don’t wanna talk about it
  16. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    Absolutely huge bounceback weekend for the Tigers against Hofstra, with a 3-0 Saturday beatdown being followed up by an intense come-from-behind 3-2 victory this afternoon. Make no mistake, this was an incredible win. It was a great match, and Hofstra is a really good team who was playing a really good game. The Towson of old would absolutely not have had the mental resolve to come back on the road after throwing away a lead late in the third set, but this comeback win is a clear example of the corner that this team has turned in the last 4 years. Winners find ways to win, right? Individually, Erin Brothers was huge in the middle, and Nina Cajic put down 20 kills despite clearly not being 100% healthy. Lastly, big shoutout to Vic Barrett. Hofstra served at her pretty much every opportunity they had, and she hung in there and consistently passed the ball well, especially in sets 4 and 5. Moving on, the Tigers return home next week for another tough series against Campbell. In fact, that’s going to be the case for most of the season. This league has taken a massive leap forward this season, and this is setting up to be possibly the toughest repeat of them all. Towson is still the best team, but there are several competitors to worry about. Hofstra is extremely strong right now. Northeastern, Delaware, UNCW, and W&M have all made significant improvements, and Campbell is walking through the door and straight into the playoff picture. This is going to be a grind of a season, and I fully expect this team to pick up a couple more losses during the regular season. Regardless, they still obviously have the talent and the expectations to win this thing again.
  17. TigersTigers

    2023 Women’s Soccer Thread

    Not might. She is the best athlete in the school. I’ve watched her a few times and it’s clear that she is above the level of this conference and her peers. I get a similar feeling with Nina Cajic from volleyball, who will go on to play pro volleyball if she wants to. But I believe Christopher has the edge there and would be able to make it in the NWSL after Towson.
  18. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    A very tightly contested weekend with Delaware ends in an even split, with each team claiming a 3-2 victory. Day 1 was definitely concerning, as Delaware claimed the win that honestly looked closer on the scoreboard than it actually was. Today was the exact opposite, with the Tigers putting in a monstrous attacking performance and the Blue Hens struggling to tread water. Even more so than Towson on the first day, it was pretty remarkable that Delaware was able to eke out two narrow set victories and push it to five. But on both days the better team won, and these two will both be leading the way in the standings for most of the season. Next up is a road weekend at Hofstra, who is also 3-1 along with about 80 other teams. UNCW is the only undefeated team through two weeks of CAA play, but they will likely not be a factor in the title race later on.
  19. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    As projected, the Tigers finish the weekend 1-2 with a 3-1 win over UCI. It was by no means a bad weekend, just a difficult one. These matches will go a long way toward preparing them for the NCAA tournament (assuming they get there), and will also help in the RPI department, as both BYU and Wazzu will be racking up the wins this year. It’s also worth noting that as of writing this, South Carolina’s only loss is day 1 against Towson. As the quality of opponent decreased, Towson’s talent became more apparent, and this team still looks poised to be the frontrunner in the CAA. All about conference now, as the Tigers open with two freebies against Hampton.
  20. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    I was at work and only caught bits and pieces of this one, but there’s no need for alarm after this one. This was a very good performance from the Tigers, and there are a lot of positives to take away. A game like this makes me think they’ve got a shot at beating Washington State, who is not as good as BYU. Of course, they have to play as well.
  21. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    The Tigers finish the weekend 5-0 against pretty weak competition across the board. Overall, they improved over the course of the weekend, although losing a match was never really on the table. Next up is a huge week, as they close out nonconference against two top 25 teams, Washington State and BYU, along with a pretty strong UC Irvine team. None of those teams are as good as Pitt was last year, but this will be the toughest weekend across the board since 2018. It’s very possible that they could play fairly well and still go 0-3. However, 1-2 is far more likely. while there have been some definite underperformers so far this season, there has been one huge positive standout: Irbe Lazda won Offensive POTW this week, after winning Defensice POTW last week. She has emerged as a third huge attacking weapon for this team, on par with Cajic and Barrett (who has been concerningly inconsistent). Her full realization of her potential adds yet another dimension to the embarrassment of riches that Don has it his disposal on the offensive side of the ball.
  22. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    I’ve been busy with work, and so didn’t get to watch these last two matches. But outside of Day 1 against South Carolina this has been a bad start to the season. These are really bad teams that we’re struggling to beat. The same issues that plagued them last year are still present, and are even exacerbated by some turnover/uncertainty at the setter and libero positions: our attackers are awesome, and are way above the normal mid-major level for offensive players. But our ball control is shaky, which decreases set quality, which means our great hitters are having to hit mostly crap sets. Furthermore, some of Sarah Jordan’s decision making in the SC loss was not at the standard it needs to be if this team wants to reach the same heights it did last year. I’ve said it before and it will forever be the dilemma for Towson: it doesn’t matter how many amazing attackers you have, if you can’t pass and set the ball, they never get a chance to attack.
  23. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    The big win is followed up with a poor performance on Day 2. The serve receive and setting were all over the place, and the Tigers struggled to find a rhythm today as Coach Don played a game of Musical Lineups. He experimented with different opposites, played both Stewart and Hess as libero, and even switched to a 5-1 with Sarah Jordan as the lone setter for 1 set. South Carolina played better today, but Towson is the better team and will be frustrated that they didn’t win both matches. Oh well, that’s how nonconference is. Next up, the Tigers will travel to Morgan State on Thursday to pick up their annual free win.
  24. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    A lovely glimpse of what this team could be this season. It was oddly satisfying to have the pro-Gamecocks announcers (understandably, considering they’re employed by the SEC Network) simply astounded that a P5 team could get dismantled by a strong mid-major. Towson rolled out with some surprising lineup decisions, namely moving Nina Cajic from the right side, where she has played her entire career, to the left. This cleared the way to bring in Zyare Abdul-Rahim as the second opposite to compliment Irbe Lazda, who was excellent today. Abdul-Rahim had a mediocre start and was replaced by Sara Wasiakowska for set 2. The other big lineup surprise was at libero, where 2-year starter Rachel Hess was replaced by the talented Sophomore Sydney Stewart. Both players played fairly well today, and will likely battle for the starting spot for all of non-conference. The Tigers jumped all over South Carolina from the get-go, and made clutch runs at the end of sets 1 and 2 to kill the home team’s confidence. By the middle of set 3, what had started as a packed house was half-empty, and there was no doubt that the Tigers were superior, at least on the day. These two teams will play again tomorrow at 2pm ET, and we should expect the Gamecocks to make several strategic changes to try and get revenge.
  25. TigersTigers

    2023 Volleyball thread

    I got asked the same question last season 😂. I was a manager for the team when I was at Towson, and I have coached some D3, but I no longer have any connection to the program. Just a Towson fan who loves volleyball!

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