Volleyball Opens the Atlantic 10 Season With a 3-0 Sweep of Rhode Island

Friday, September 21

McGonigle Hall

7:00 PM

Temple University

11-4, 1-0 A-10

Rhode Island

4-9, 0-1 A-10

Rhode Island

Temple

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Volleyball Opens the Atlantic 10 Season With a 3-0 Sweep of Rhode Island

9.21.12 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Atlantic 10 opener went the way most other matches have gone for Temple volleyball so far this season- with a sweep for the Owls. Temple defeated Rhode Island (4-9, 0-1) in three sets by scores of 25-23, 25-21 and 25-18, coming from behind in the opening set but looking strong from there.

"It was great to be able to finish off Rhode Island in three sets," said head coach Bakeer Ganes. "They're a team that qualified for the A-10 Tournament last year, so if we want a shot at that this season they are the kind of team we need to beat."

The Owls (11-4, 1-0) were led by Elyse Burkert with a double-double of 17 kills and 10 digs. Gabriella Matautia knocked down 13 kills, and Jennifer Iacobini recorded eight kills with zero errors, along with a team-best three blocks. Chelsea Tupuola led all players with 14 digs, and Tiffany Connatser added nine digs to her match-best 41 assists.

Things did not start off well for Temple in the first set as the Rams jumped out to a 7-1 lead. The Owls kept their composure and got many of the points back quickly, soon trailing by just two at 10-8.

After the Owls tied the set at 15-15, Rhode Island pulled ahead yet again. Catie Steffen knocked down a kill for a 21-18 lead for the Rams, and another for a 23-20 lead a short time later. Temple called a timeout and came out of it to score the final five points of the set. Four different players recorded kills including Matautia for set-point, and Iacobini for the set-winner. Matautia and Burkert notched seven kills apiece in that set.

"It's very good we were able to come back and close out that set," said Ganes. "It says a lot about our ability and our killer instinct, which is a great development for our team. That will help us down the road, being able to come from behind, because we are still an underdog in the A-10."

The second and third sets were much different than the first, with Temple holding solid leads throughout both. The Rams were never quite out of reach but the Owls came up with points when they needed them. Burkert tallied another six kills while committing zero errors in the second set, and Jingyu Zhang had her strongest set with five kills. Rhode Island fought off two set points but then gave up a service error as the Owls took a 2-0 lead for the match.

Iacobini was impressive in the third set with five kills and no errors on seven attempts (.800) along with two blocks. Temple surged ahead early in the set and led by 10 at 17-7. That lead held strong until near the end when the Rams mounted a comeback but could come within no fewer than six.

The Owls will be back in action tomorrow night against Fordham at home at 7:00 p.m. in McGonigle Hall.