Towson and Catonsville may have been playing the final match of the regular season, but there were plenty of celebrations for both teams.
Towson enjoyed a 22-25, 24-15, 23-25, 25-22, 15-13 comeback victory in a match that had energy and ebbs and flows like a playoff game.
The Comets (5-9) honored six players and a manager before the game on senior night and enjoyed a post-game spread, but their three-game winning streak came to an end, despite leading 2-1 after three sets.
“This season we have had a lot of practice with being down and having to work ourselves out of a deficit,” Towson coach Morgan Puller said. “I always advise my team: stay connected, celebrate the little things we do well. The universe in volleyball is just going to work in our favor. That’s my thing and it just kind of takes the pressure off and reminds them that we practiced for this moment like we know what to do and take it away.”
The final set began with an ace by Madi McGinness, but the teams stayed within a point until the Comets built and 8-5 lead after an ace by Elsa Parrington and block from Sanai Porter. An ace by Lillly Baldus and kill by Josie Reed helped the Generals (6-4) even the set at 9.
Towson scored the next three points on a hitting error, rotation violation and ace by Birdie Patterson.
Down 13-10, Catonsville evened the match with a pair of kills by Molly Snyder (match-high 20 kills) sandwiched around a Towson error. But Towson ended the victory after a Comet error and ace by Sarah Batie (11 kills).
The Generals were led throughout by the standout play of senior Shawna Dyer, who, in addition to a team-high 19 kills and numerous digs, provided energy and spirt during her team’s comeback after losing the third set.
“I looked at all the girls and I was like ‘Hey, I know none of us want to go home and end the season like this, so let’s just pick each other up,’” Dyer said. “Honestly, believe in each other, the first point is the most important one and everything else just forget about it.”
Dyer transferred from Eastern Tech for her senior year and had been a pleasant surprise for Puller.
“She is our court captain, senior, has really taken on a lot considering it’s her first season with us at Towson,” Puller said. “She has the court awareness, just like the knowledge and the experience to kind of push us through those tough moments because she’s super competitive and I think that allows us to like stay aggressive like in moments when we want to shy away she is pushing everybody.”
Show Caption1 of 12Catonsville’s Kira King celebrates with her fellow comets after earning a point during the game between Catonsville and Towson High Schools at Catonsville High School in Catonsville, MD. (Haldan Kirsch/Freelance)Expand
Dyer had seven kills in the first set, but she was overshadowed by Catonsville’s Snyder and Cecilia Borsh, who had six and four kills, respectively.
Dyer had four kills and the General rallied for a 24-15 victory in the second set, but the Comets took the pivotal third set sparked by a ball that was ping ponged off the net to Snyder who scored a point on a desperate reaction, giving the Comets a 23-22 lead. Kills by Kristina Mikiyas (12 kills) and Snyder ended the set.
Senior libero Kira King played outstanding defense along with Eva Klosteridis all night and Snyder had seven kills in the first set and the junior continues to be a driving force for the Comets.
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“That’s just great volleyball. Molly is a phenomenal player. It’s going to be sad to see her go when she graduates next year. She’s a pure bred athlete and she’s only been playing maybe three or four years,” Catonsville coach Milan Amos said. “She just learned the game and she really mastered it. She’s one of our really go-to players for sure.”
Towson spread the wealth in the fourth set, getting five kills from Batie and seven combined kills from Dyer, Ellie Conradi and Reed. Much of the damage came from the center of the court.
“My middles were on,” Puller said. “I think it was fantastic that we were able to execute our middles, like that’s something that we’ve been working at especially on serve receive, having all of our hitters available and I think our middles have been working hard at getting in every play and being dominant hitters.”
Despite the loss, the whole evening had was a memorable one for Amos and senior players King, Borsh, Mikiyas, Lizzy Schwenk, Kahlah Baker, Merina Siteibi and senior manager Taylor Jamison.
“I’d have to say this is one of the best group of girls that I’ve ever coached,” Amos said. “In my six years of coaching this senior class really held a special places in my heart, just because when I started coaching they were my freshmen and sophomores, so to see them graduate it’s heart-breaking, but I know that they are going to be great at whatever they do after this.”
She’s hoping her entire team does something great in the postseason.
“I’m really positive that we are going to do pretty good in playoffs,” Amos said. “They have a lot of heart. They have a lot of drive. I have to say that after every game that we’ve played, they’ve gotten better,” she said.
Towson’s Dyer hopes this victory was a spark.
“We needed that energy boost to go into postseason,” she said.
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