Temple University Athletics
Volleyball Advances To Atlantic 10 Semifinal With 3-1 Win Over Fordham
11.16.07 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 16, 2007
Charlotte, N.C.- A feisty Fordham team caught fire in the late going, but could not upend the East-Division champion Temple squad in a 3-1 decision (30-23, 30-22, 17-30, 31-29) in the opening round of the 2007 Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship. The Owls advance to play top seeded Dayton at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow night.
The Owls (15-17) overcame a dozen service errors and a negative attack percentage in game three. Yun Yi Zhang pounded 23 kills on the night. Both teams traded numerous service errors in a sloppy opening to the first game, but the Owls found their stride after a slim 13-10 edge. Temple ran off five of the next eight points to extend a lead they would not relinquish. The Owls hit at a .625 clip in the first game, with 22 kills and just a pair of errors in 32 attempts.
Game two saw the Owls jump out to a big early lead and cruise to the victory. Zhang and First Team All-Conference member Yue Liu had four and five kills, respectively, with libero Sun Ying Ying managing seven of her match-high 19 digs in that frame.
After the intermission, Fordham (15-20) came back with a response, holding Temple to a -.034 attack percentage, while getting a rhythm of its own for a .444 attack percentage game. Kailee May recorded five kills, with teammate Christi Griffiths knocked down four kills in the rout of the third period. Temple committed nine errors and logged only 10 digs in the game to get the Rams back in the match.
"In game one, we started slow and didn't serve tough and put pressure on them," said Fordham head coach Peter Volkert. "We really picked up our play in game three, which pushed through into the first half of game four. We need to hang onto that lead and maybe we can get it to a game five where maybe we have a 50-50 chance to advance."
Game four was as even as things would go all night, with the teams trading surges in the game. Fordham jumped out to a 15-7 lead and kept the margin at eight points to 19-11 before Temple mounted its comeback. The Owls reeled off eight consecutive points to tie the match at 19-all. Fordham against extended a four-point margin to 24-20, but the Owls tied again at 25. The teams traded kills until Temple could get the edge with a Zhang service ace while Patricia Vernon and Liu had consecutive kills to end the game and match.
"I knew we were going to have a great match," said Temple head coach Bob Bertucci. "Fordham did everything they needed to do to give us a hard time. We needed to keep our composure, especially in game three. Tomorrow, if we make the same kind of mistakes, the difference will be Dayton has a bigger team and is a lot less forgiving."
Vernon added 17 kills, with Liu putting up 12. Temple setter Jackie Morrison had 50 assists for the victors.
Fordham's Katherine Burrell also recorded 50 assists in the contest, with May reaching a team-best 16 kills and Griffiths contributing 15 on the night. Libero Lauren Fitzsimon had the team-high 12 digs.
