Volleyball Sweeps USF to Finish Regular Season 12-0 on the Road

Sunday, November 20

Tampa, Fla.

1:00 p.m.

Temple University

21-7, 14-4AAC

USF

17-13, 8-10AAC

Temple

USF

Photo by: Betsy Manning/Temple University

Volleyball Sweeps USF to Finish Regular Season 12-0 on the Road

11.20.16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

TAMPA, Fla. -- Facing a standing-room only crowd at the Corral at USF, Temple volleyball swept the Bulls 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-17) on their home court. The win improves the Owls to 21-7 overall, 14-4 in The American, while USF dips to 17-13 overall, 8-10 in conference play.

Temple hit .316 as a team, taking the large crowd out of play by not allowing USF to take a lead later than 2-0 in any set. The Owls out-hit, out-dug, and out-blocked the Bulls, for a win in their last regular season road match of the year. Temple finishes the season with a 12-0 mark on the road, and has now defeated every American Athletic Conference team at least once this season. The Owls are the only American Athletic Conference team to do so in each of the past three seasons.

Junior Irem Asci tallied a double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs, while junior Kyra Coundourides also doubled up with 46 assists and 10 digs. Junior Izzy Rapacz notched 12 kills with seven digs, while senior Tyler Davis had 11 kills and six digs. In the middle, senior Kirsten Overton had six kills with two blocks, while junior Janine Simmons tallied five kills, hitting .714. Sophomore Mia Heirakuji aided the defense with eight digs in the sweep.

A fast start in set one saw Temple lead 7-2 early on a Rapacz kill. USF cut Temple's lead to 9-7 with a 4-1 run, but the Owls responded with a 7-2 surge to go up 16-9. Temple kept its advantage at seven until a USF run cut it to 24-20. A Bulls' attack error then gave Temple set one, 25-20, as the Owls led 1-0.

Temple led 7-4 early, before USF battled back to tie the frame at 7-7. The Owls then used a 4-1 run, capped by an Overton winner to make it 11-8. Temple stayed on top, going up by as many as four points in the tight frame, as a Rapacz kill made it 23-19. USF rallied to make it 24-23, but Asci put one to the floor to give the Owls a 2-0 lead with a 25-23 win.

The Owls erased a 2-0 start for USF with a 8-1 run to go up 8-3 in the third. Temple's lead grew to 15-8 on back-to-back kills from Asci and Rapacz before five-straight from USF made it a 15-13 match. Temple swung the momentum back with a huge block from Asci and Overton, followed by an ace from Asci making it 17-13. The Owls' continued to surge making it 21-14 on kills from Davis, Asci, and Rapacz, before USF again rallied, this time cutting it to 21-17. From there, a long serving from sophomore Hannah Vandegrift gave the set to the Owls, as Temple rattled off four-straight points to complete the 3-0 sweep with a 25-17 win.

Temple is back in action on Wednesday, hosting league-leading SMU at 1:00 p.m. on the American Digital Network. The Owls will celebrate International Students Day inviting all international students on campus to the match.

Box Score (PDF)