Volleyball Sweeps Albany for Second Victory on Saturday

Saturday, September 2

Albany, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Temple University

3-3

Albany

0-6

Temple

UAlbany

Photo by: Betsy Manning/Temple University

Volleyball Sweeps Albany for Second Victory on Saturday

9.2.17 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The Temple volleyball team notched its second sweep in two matches, topping Albany 3-0 on the final day of the Desmond Hotel Invitational, hosted by the Great Danes. The Owls grabbed the win 25-15, 25-15, and 25-12 to even their season mark to 3-3.

Keys to the Match
> The Owls hit .378 as a team to record its second sweep of the day.
> Temple defeated Albany for the first time in program history, after starting the series 0-5.
> The Owls held Albany to just a .010 attack, forcing 23 errors and allowing only 24 total kills.
> Temple also out-blocked (11-2) and out-dug (48-34) the Great Danes in three sets.
> Temple hit a massive .533 in the first set, going 17-1-30.
> The Owls and the Great Danes kept things close early in the first with Temple edging ahead 14-12.
> From there, Temple took over, closing out the set on an 11-3 run.
> Senior Dara Peric and redshirt freshman Dana Westfield each had four kills without an error in the first frame.
> In the second set, Temple turned a 7-6 edge into a 14-9 lead with a 7-3 surge.
> Albany got no closer, as the Owls cruised to the 25-15 set two victory.
> The Great Danes led 4-0 early in the second, but an 11-1 run by Temple all but put the set away.
> Five different players recorded kills during the extended run that gave the Owls an 11-5 lead.
> Temple pushed the lead to 18-8 on a Peric kill that capped a 4-0 surge.
> The Owls closed the set on a 5-1 run with an ace from junior Mia Heirakuji winning the set, 25-12.

Individual Highlights
> Senior Izzy Rapacz had match highs of nine kills and seven blocks for the Owls, hitting .500.
> Senior Irem Asci had eight kills and a team-high 17 digs.
> Redshirt freshman Dana Westfield had seven kills without an error, hitting .636 for the match.
> Senior Dara Peric added seven kills to pace the offense.
> Senior Janine Simmons had six blocks and five kills.
> Junor Iva Deak notched four kills without an error, also adding four blocks.
> Senior Kyra Coundourides tallied 19 assists with six digs.
> Junior Hannah Vandegrift chipped in with 13 assists and five digs.
> Junior Mia Heirakuji had 12 assis with seven assists on the night.

Quotable - Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam
>"I think today was huge for us. Wins are always important, but first and foremost, we wanted to see progress today and we did that.
>"Yesterday our serve-receive was broken down, but today it was one of our strong points, so that was good to see."
>"Moving forward, we just want to keep moving in this direction and keep working on what makes us strong."

All-Tournament Picks
> Mia Heirakuji (MVP)
> Dana Westfield

Up Next
> Temple will host the Sonesta Hotel Philadelphia Cherry & White Challenge next weeknd.
> Boston College, Miami, and Delaware will visit McGonigle Hall for Temple's first home matches of the season.

Box Score (PDF)