Temple University Athletics
Temple University
UCF
Road Matches at American Foes UCF and USF on Tap for Volleyball This Weekend
10.24.13 | Women's Volleyball
PHILADELPHIA - After playing five straight home matches and winning them all, Temple volleyball now takes to the road for a pair of American Athletic Conference contests this weekend at UCF and USF. First up for the Owls (15-4, 6-1) is a 7:00 p.m. match at UCF (13-7, 4-3) on Friday, Oct. 25. Temple will play at USF (11-10, 5-2) on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 1:00 p.m.
Links to live stats and live video for both matches can be found on the Temple Volleyball Schedule page.
The Owls currently stand alone in second place in the American at 6-1, behind preseason favorite Louisville at 7-0. Temple was picked to finish seventh among the 10 teams, but the Owls have dominated most of the competition so far, winning their six matches by a total of 15 sets to three.
Temple's 15-4 overall record is its best 19-match start in 14 years, since the 1999 team finished at 26-5 overall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Leading the way for the Owls this season offensively is Preseason All-American Athletic Conference selection Gabriella Matautia, who has 261 kills (3.62 kills/set) to rank second among all players in the league. Setter Sandra Sydlik currently ranks fifth in the conference in assists (9.48 per set) and first in service aces with 22 (0.37 aces/set). Libero Alyssa Drachslin, coming off a big weekend in which she averaged over eight digs per set, leads the team and ranks fourth in the American with 321 digs (4.59 digs/set).
The Owls pulled off a pair of sweeps in their most recent matches, defeating both Connecticut and Rutgers 3-0.Â
The UCF Knights started the conference season with four straight wins, but have since lost three straight to stand at 4-3 overall. The were picked to finish second in the league behind Louisville.
Redshirt-senior outside hitter Angelica Crump leads UCF and ranks just ahead of Matautia in the conference in kills with 266 overall (3.69 kills/set). Junior middle blocker DeLaina Sarden is leading her team and the conference in hitting percentage at .402 while also tallying an impressive 3.30 kills/set.Â
Temple leads UCF by a slim margin of 2-1 all-time, but the teams have not met since 2000.
While the USF Bulls are just 11-10 overall, their conference record is 5-2 and they have won three straight heading into the weekend. Four of USF's non-conference losses were to teams either receiving votes or ranked in the Top 25. Sophomore outside hitter Erin Fairs, the reigning American Player of the Week, leads the Bulls both offensively and defensively with 3.58 kills/set to go with 4.22 digs/set. Senior middle blocker Andrea Rodriguez Gomez leads the team and the American with 101 blocks (1.29 blocks/set).
USF has dominated the all-time series against Temple with a record of 8-0, but the last meeting was way back in 1989.
