Temple University Athletics
Volleyball 1998 Year End Review
4.8.99 | Women's Volleyball
(April 8, 1999) -- For Head coach Bob Bertucci 1998 turned out to be one of the best for Temple volleyball. The team won the 1998 Bell Atlantic Atlantic 10 Women's Volleyball Championship and made its second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Temple (22-10) qualified for the 64-team field as an automatic entry, after winning the Atlantic 10 Conference championship. First the Owls beat top-seeded Xavier in a grueling five game semifinal round match, 11-15, 15-9, 7-15, 15-3, 15-3, before defeating Virginia Tech, 15-7, 15-6, 15-3 to win the title.
The Owls set a championship record with 162 kills over the two days, surpassing the 159 kills amassed by Rhode Island in 1996. Sophomore outside hitter Alma Kovaci recorded tournament highs with 50 kills and 42 digs in the two matches.
At the beginning of the season, the Owls earned a victory over Maryland, but were defeated by Georgetown and Michigan in the Georgetown Acumen Classic. In the first annual Temple Apollo Classic the Owls defeated San Diego State and Drexel but lost to Maryland in the championship game.
As conference play got under way, Temple won its first five home games against UMass, Rhode Island, Rutgers, Dayton and Xavier. The Owls then were defeated in their next two matches by the University of Delaware and Virginia Tech before winning the next five conference games against Duquesne, George Washington, Fordham, LaSalle and St. Bonaventure, beating each opponent in three-game shutouts except LaSalle.
The Owls played their next five games on the road winning two games against Rhode Island and Villanova, but losing to conference foes UMass, Xavier and Dayton. The Owls went on to end their regular season defeating five of their last six opponents to earn a spot in the A-10 Tournament.
The Owls ended their regular season with a 20-9 overall record and a 15-5 Atlantic 10 record. Temple was slated as the fourth seed going into the Atlantic 10 Championship.
As a team, the Owls ranked in the top three of the Atlantic 10 Conference in four of six statistical categories. Temple was first in service aces (2.21 per game); second in team hitting percentage (.224); third in kills (16.07 per game); and third in assists (14.65 per game).
Individually, Kovaci led the conference in kills (532) with an average of 5.07 per game; she was fourth in hitting percentage (.292) and sixth in digs (347) with an average of 3.30 per game. Sophomore outside hitter Maria Vutskova was seventh (0.45 per game) and Teresa Schumacher eighth (0.40 per game) in service aces and seventh in assists (10.42 per game).
The Owls were defeated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Texas A&M (7-15, 11-15, 16-14, 5-15). They set new conference records this season and picked up several individual awards.
Alma Kovaci
All-Conference Team
All-Tournament Team (Atlantic 10 Tournament)
All-Tournament Team (Georgetown Acumen Classic)
All-Tournament Team (Temple Apollo Classic)
All-District
AVCA All-American Candidate
Most Outstanding Player- (Atlantic 10 Tournament)
Atlantic 10 Player of the Week- (Week of Sept. 20)
Amber May
All-Academic (Atlantic 10)
All-Tournament Team (Atlantic 10 Tournament)
Maria Vutskova
All-Tournament Team (Atlantic 10 Tournament)
Teresa Schumacher
Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week- (Week of Nov. 8)
Enkeleida Shkoza
Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week- (Week of Sept. 13)
All-Tournament Team (Temple Apollo Classic
