Volleyball Falls in Straight Sets to Powerhouse VCU

Friday, October 26

McGonigle Hall

7:00 PM

Temple University

15-9, 5-5 A-10

VCU

22-3, 8-2 A-10

VCU

Temple

Volleyball Falls in Straight Sets to Powerhouse VCU Image

Tiffany Connatser

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Volleyball Falls in Straight Sets to Powerhouse VCU

10.26.12 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - With a strong, physical presence at the net, VCU (22-3, 8-2) came away with a three-set win over Temple volleyball on Friday night at McGonigle Hall. The Owls (15-9, 5-5) improved as the match went on, but ultimately lost by scores of 25-15, 25-16 and 25-19.

Gabriella Matautia led Temple with 12 kills, while Elyse Burkert notched 11 kills. Burkert and Chelsea Tupuola led a very balanced defense for the Owls with six digs apiece.

Four players recorded eight or more kills for the Rams, led by Romana Kriskova with 10 kills and Martina Samadan with nine.

"For us to keep up what we had going in the first half of the saason is not realistic for the entire season," said Temple head coach Bakeer Ganes. "It's very draining for us, not just physically but especially mentally. Different things come into play at this point in the season- exams, lack of sleep... every team has to deal with those things. It's just very apparent for us because we're not very deep. We just have to keep them fresh and keep them ready and make adjustments.

"I have to give VCU credit. They had a very good game plan and executed it well. They didn't do anything we didn't expect, but I do feel like we were a little bit timid. We knew it was going to be a tough match and that we'd be out-pwoered in the middle, and that's what happened. We tried to fight back as much as we could, and that's what I wanted to see."

VCU knocked down 16 kills with zero errors in the first set, and also led Temple four blocks to none. The score was close early, with the Owls trailing 9-8 before VCU began to pull away. The second set again saw Temple hang with the Rams early on, but a big run by VCU created a significant lead midway through. The Owls battled back to score six of the final 11 points, but the lead for VCU was already too great as the Rams won the set 25-16.

The third set saw seven ties and three lead changes, with the Owls staying in it until near the end. Matautia came up with a kill to fight off one match point, but VCU then took the set by a score of 25-19.

The Owls will be back in action at home Saturday night, facing Charlotte at 7:00 p.m.