Owls Sweep Villanova In Women's Volleyball

PHILADELPHIA (November 10)-- Junior outside hitter Alma Kovaci and

sophomore middle

blocker Enkeleida Shkoza each recorded 15 kills to pace the Temple

women's volleyball team to a 15-5, 15-8, 16-14 win over cross-town rival

Villanova at McGonigle Hall.

Temple (18-5) cruised in games one and two behind the steady hitting of

Kovaci (15-30 on attacks, 5 errors, .333 hitting percentage) and Shkoza

(15-35, 4, .315) and the brilliant passing of junior setter Teresa

Schumacher (10 digs, 42 assists). Villanova (9-19) rallied to take a

10-3 lead in the third set behind the play of Erin Birunas (9 kills,

.318) and setter Stacy Moline (21 assists), but Kovaci came off the

bench to re-ignite the Owls and close out the match. Brandy Best (9

kills, 9 digs) and Maria Vutskova (7 kills, 6 digs, 4 service aces) were

also strong contributors in the Temple victory.

As a team the Owls hit .201 for the match (58-144, 29), while limiting

Villanova to a mark of .104 (27-115, 15). The match was completed in one

hour and 14 minutes.

With the match, Coach Bob Bertucci's Owls concluded the non-conference

portion of their1999 season in advance of key Atlantic 10 Conference

matches at home this weekend against Rhode Island (Friday, 6:30 p.m.)

and Massachusetts (Saturday, 3:00 p.m.). A two-time defending conference

champion, Temple stands alone atop the current A-10 standings with an

11-2 league record. The Owls will host the A-10 Conference Championship

Tournament at McGonigle Hall Nov. 26-27.

Temple University Athletics