Towson Finishes Season in First Round of NCAA Tournament Against Georgia
Hunter Peters
BOX SCORE
AUSTIN, Texas (Dec. 1, 2022) – The dynamic duo of Kacie Evans and Sophia Fischer willed Georgia to a four-set victory (25-10, 25-23, 21-25, 25-20) over CAA Champion Towson in the First Round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Thursday night from Gregory Gymnasium on the campus of the University of Texas.
Georgia improves to 23-7 this season and advances to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, where they await the winner of top-seeded Texas and Fairleigh Dickinson. Towson finishes a historic season 29-2 after the setback.
Evans tallied a match-high 26 kills on a .380 hitting percentage, adding eight digs, while Fischer recorded 12 kills, hitting .455 with eight blocks to lead Georgia to its first NCAA Tournament victory since 1995.
Georgia took the first three points of the opening frame and rolled to a 25-10 first-set victory. After falling behind 3-0, the Tigers rallied off back-to-back points, but Georgia created separation with a 4-0 spurt capped off by a service ace from Alexa Fortin and took a 7-2 advantage. The Bulldogs put their mark on the set with a 7-0 run, which opened a 14-3 lead for Georgia. Fischer recorded four kills during the run as Georgia cruised to an early advantage in the match.
The Tigers show fight in the second set, but it was Georgia that prevailed in a back-and-forth frame. The Bulldogs opened the set by taking seven of the first eight points. Towson battled back as a Katie McCracken dump set pulled the Tigers within one at 11-10. Trailing by three, the Tigers rallied off a 9-1 run, initiated by a Fay Bakodimou kill, that put Towson in front 20-15. However, out of a timeout, Evans tallied back-to-back kills to start a 7-1 Georgia spurt that allowed the Bulldogs to regain momentum before taking three of the final five points, winning the frame 25-23.
Towson got on the board in the third, winning set three 25-21. The teams traded blows to 11 before Nina Cajic put down a kill that was the first of three straight points for the Tigers. Maintaining a three-point advantage, Towson rallied off another 3-0 spurt that pushed its lead to 19-14. The Tigers kept their distance, leading by at least three the rest of the frame.
Georgia shut the door in the fourth, earning a 25-20 set victory and taking the match three sets to one. Down 2-1, Georgia rallied off six straight points with an Evans kill on either end of the run to take a 7-2 advantage. The Bulldogs kept the cushion throughout the frame, never trailing after the spurt.
Three Tigers recorded double-figure kills, led by Irbe Lazda with 12. Cajic tallied 11 kills on a .320 hitting percentage, while Victoria Barrett added 10 kills and 10 digs for her sixth double-double this fall.
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