By By Olson Barthelemy
In sports, living on the edge eventually catches up with you.
Ask any athlete, and they’ll tell you they would rather be involved in boring yet efficient games that go their way instead of grueling matches that go down to the wire where the slightest mistake may spell defeat.
The Pride volleyball team was involved in three five-game matches in the four preceding last weekend’s battle against Towson (24-6, 12-4 CAA), and the Pride (18-7, 15-2) came out on top in each meeting. The team would once again test its fate by going the distance against Towson on Friday at the Physical Fitness Center.
Except for its match earlier this season against the University of California Irvine, the Pride has not been down two games to start a match this season. Facing the reigning CAA champion Tigers, the last thing the Pride wanted was to fall behind early.
The Pride was facing a high-powered offense in the opposing team, which has been the case lately.
Towson senior outside hitter April Hoffman made her presence felt throughout the match with her powerful serve and amazing amount of total attacks (82). The Pride was on the defensive for the majority of the match, resulting in some highlight reel worthy digs, in particular a spectacular running play by junior libero Catherine Durakis.
On the receiving end of Towson’s attack and unable to muster a consistent offense of its own (averaging a hitting percentage of .115 for the first two games), the Pride was down two games to none, 30-27 and 30-24, to start the match.
As a result, the Pride needed to stretch the match to five games to pull out a victory. Perhaps indicative of the dramatic fashion of the Pride’s previous matches, the third game would be decided beyond the 30-point norm with the Pride pulling out a close third game, 31-29. The game featured 11 ties and was tied at 29 until consecutive kills from Elizabeth Curley and Tessa Sphar broke the tie and shortened the deficit to one game.
The Pride finally overcame their offensive deficiencies in the fourth game, tallying 21 kills to the Tigers’ 19 and managed a hitting percentage of .259. Spurred by its increased offense, the Pride would take the fourth game, 30-26, and force a fifth and deciding game.
The fifth game would seesaw between both teams with the Pride taking the lead and attempting to go on runs, but a persistent Towson team kept battling back. Unable to go on a run, the Pride found itself down 14-12 with match point looming before eventually falling, 15-13.
“I’m really proud of our team,” Pride head coach Fran Kalafer said. “We really fought. Luckily, we get to play again soon.”
Catherine Durkais set a single match digs record during the Pride’s latest win against Delaware. (Photo Courtesy of Athletic Dept.)