Towson Box
Saint Peter's Box

Towson, Md. – La Salle (3-5) split a pair of games on day two of the Towson Invitational. The Explorers proved to be too much for Saint Peter's (0-5) Saturday morning, as they pulled away late for a 3-1, (25-19, 19-25, 25-13, 25-15) win. Junior Kelly Perillo had an impressive match racking up 17 kills hitting at a .341 clip, while also adding 22 digs and three service aces. In the day's second match, Towson (6-0) took straight sets from the Explorers 0-3 (11-25, 14-25, 20-25).
 
Kelly Perillo picked up Towson Invitational All-Tournament honors after racking up 29 kills and 32 kills over the three matches of the tournament.
 
"Kelly has become an offensive weapon for us this year, just as she was last year," stated coach Rimgaila. "She remains to be our best option in the front row. She had an excellent all-around game this weekend, and she continues to be a leader out on the court for us."
 
La Salle jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in set one. In the early going Perillo had a kill and two service aces to jumpstart the Explorers. Despite the Peacocks making things interesting late in the set, the Explorers early lead was too much for them to overcome. Perillo paced the Explorers with four kills, two service aces, nine digs and 1.5 blocks in the first set. Freshman Bryanna Davis provided some more firepower, throwing down three kills of her own in the set.
 
Saint Peter's came out and made the second set a battle from the very beginning with neither team really being able to gain control of the set. Ultimately the Peacocks got hot when it counted and were able to pull out the set 19-25. Freshman Bryanna Davis was a force in the second set, racking up five kills for the Explorers.
 
The Explorers started off the third set quickly and were able to regain control of the match as a result. La Salle held an early 9-2 lead thanks to two kills each from Perillo and junior Laura Kuhlmeier as well as two block assists from senior Jennifer Whelan. That early lead was too much for Saint Peter's to overcome as the Explorers captured the set, 25-13 after a Perillo ace. Perillo and Kuhlmeier both added five kills in the set.  
 
In the fourth set La Salle again proved too much for the Peacocks to handle. The Explorers jumped out to an early 9-2 lead thanks to two Davis service aces, a sophomore Phoebe Cook kill and a junior Erin Noga ace. Perillo added five more kills in the set and Kuhlmeier added in three of her own. The entire team hit at a very productive .333 clip in the fourth set, racking up 15 kills while only committing four hitting errors on 33 total attacks.
 
"Laura has been the epitome of a good teammate and acted as a utility player for us over the past few weekends," added coach Rimgaila. "With her passing ability we have had the option of playing her at libero, but today we felt she would be better used for us on the outside. We are going to continue to mix it up as the rest of nonconference season goes on."
 
In the day's second match, the Explorers couldn't muster up quite enough offense to beat the Tigers. Towson was able to stifle La Salle's offense in part due to 11 team blocks for the Tigers. Kelly Perillo again set the pace for La Salle with seven kills while Whelan and Kuhlmeier both added in five of their own.
 
In set one La Salle fought early but couldn't maintain their attack over the entire set. Michelle Healy used the element of surprise to sneak in a kill and pull things within three at 6-9, however the Tigers pulled away from there. Perillo paced the offense with three kills with Kuhlmeier and Felton adding in two kills of their own.
 
In set two, La Salle battled early and was able to grab several leads. Perillo started off the set with a nice kill to give the Explorers the early advantage. Kuhlmeier later threw down a big kill to give La Salle 4-3 lead. However, Towson had just too much offense and the Explorers couldn't quite keep pace. Whelan and Perillo both contributed three kills in the set.
 
The Explorers showed a lot of fight in set three as despite being down 13-22, La Salle took seven of the next eight points to close the gap to just two and force a Tiger timeout. Whelan provided two kills and a block assist in the third set to help the Explorers climb back into it. Ultimately the Tigers regained their composure and took the set 20-25 and the match 3-0.
 
"This weekend was a good learning experience for us," stated coach Rimgaila. "Teams are going to scout us a little bit more now and be more prepared for us. Our team needs to be a little bit better at making mid-match adjustments. We have done a good job on our scouting reports and utilizing those in game one, but we need to make adjustments from there. We are going to keep working hard in practice and practice on Monday for Rider before getting ready for Iona next weekends."
 
La Salle returns to action Tuesday night as they host the Rider Broncs with the action getting under way at 7 p.m. in Tom Gola Arena.