got to bring the energy’: Titans outlast Crusaders in rivalry thriller

many as three points in the process, but another Bradfield kill in her sweet spot – the back-left corner – tied the set, 18-18.

After another run by the Titans and a couple of back-and-forth points, the set was locked at 23-23.

Then, Criddle struck again, forcing a hit toward the Titans’ front line that went right off of the fingertips of Bradfield, giving TriState a 24-23 lead. With Criddle serving on the ensuing point, Bradfield knocked a potential return out of bounds to give the Crusaders a 25-23 first-set victory.

However, Tome appeared to take the set loss personally, proceeding to wallop Tri-State in the second set after hopping out to a 13-4 lead that it’d never come close to relinquishing, leading by as many as 11 before eventually pulling out a 25-14 win to even the match at 1-1.

The third set would prove to be another barnburner, with the Crusaders getting the early advantage after a pair of aces from Katie Eckendorf and Hope Pfadt, 3-1, but the Titans coming back to retake the lead, 4-3, after winning three consecutive points.

Tome held onto the lead until a Crusaders run allowed them to win six straight points, taking the lead on a hard-hit ace from Baylie Thomas, making it 12-11.

A back-and-forth sequence ensued, with the Crusaders leading by as

From there, the Titans flipped a switch, winning seven consecutive points to seal the 25-18 set win behind a masterful job in the service zone by freshman Ainsley Carillo, giving Tome a 2-1 match lead, needing to win just one more set to take the match home.

“We do a magnificent job of digging really deep holes and trying to climb out of them, and sometimes we run out of points,” Spencer said. “The first set, we’re warming up a little bit, we still couldn't get out of our own way with some of the errors, but then the second and third sets, I felt we were pretty solid. It was pretty solid volleyball all the way around.”

The fourth and final set had a similar feel, with Tome spotting Tri-State a small lead early. But, after gaining an advantage on an ace by Bullerman, followed by a service error on the next point to tie it, 10-10, the Titans rattled off 15 straight points as Carillo was flawless on her serves.

In the Titans’ final 15-0 run – which gave them the fourth-set win, 25-10 – Bradfield had five kills in what was a complete team performance to close out an action-packed, come-frombehind rivalry win.

“(Bradfield) was really smart with where she was putting the ball,” Spencer said of his sophomore.

“When the season started, she was struggling a little bit, she was learning. Every time she was going for that home-run ball, but she’s learned you can’t always do that. … She’s been finding the floor a lot more the past few games.”

With a win over the Crusaders, the Titans not only extended their league record to 11-0, but also secured home court advantage throughout the MIL playoffs, a major step in their journey to reclaim the league title af- ter losing to Tri-State in the championship match last season, a memory that continues to fuel them to this day.

“It's definitely a bittersweet taste, knowing we lost it last year and now we’re being able to take just little pieces of it back, just working towards it and seeing how the work and effort we put in is kind of starting to pay off,” Bradfield said. “It just really feels nice to know your hard work counts for something.”

Rowan University Women's Swimming Falls to #8 NYU in the Profs Season Opener; Pennington Wins Three Events

Story By Rowan University Athletics

GLASSBORO, NJ -- Rowan took on #8 NYU in the season opener on Saturday at the Tony Lisa Natatorium but were on the wrong end of a 167-90 score.

Rookie Ella Pennington had quite the debut, winning three events on the day. The freshman was first in the 100 backstroke (58.69), the 200 backstroke (2:05.87), and the 200 IM (2:13.54).

Jordan McChesney picked up a first-place finish in the 50 free (24.60) and a second place in the 100 free (53.56). Emma Padros was second in the 200 IM