Temple University Athletics
Temple University
18-12, 9-9American
UCF (Senior Night)
21-10, 12-6American
Volleyball Falls to UCF on Senior Night; Finishes the Season at 18-12
11.29.13 | Women's Volleyball
Senior Day Video
PHILADELPHIA - It was a tough loss on Senior Night for Temple volleyball, as the Owls lost 3-0 to visiting UCF in the final match of the 2013 season. Temple finishes with a winning record of 18-12 overall, and a 9-9 record in the American Athletic Conference.
After the match, Temple head coach Bakeer Ganes took some time to talk about seniors Elyse Burkert, Emily Carlin and Gabriella Matautia, who played in their final match as Owls.
"The seniors were a part of this program for multiple years, and even Emily certainly left a mark on this program in the time she was here, as a player and even more so as a person," said Ganes. "We're really glad we were able to be a part of her college career.
"I can't say enough about Elyse and Gabby because they've been a big part of this program for four years. We're certainly going to miss their contributions on the court offensively and defensively. Both of them have more than 1,000 kills for their careers, and Elyse also has over 900 digs. So you can see they were major aspects of our program for multiple years in different aspects of our game.
"Also, their contributions off the court as leaders and captains, they were a major part of this program, and they made my life easier. We wish all our seniors all the best for all the goals they try to reach, and I'm hoping they learned some skill sets here that will help them to be successful in whatever they end up doing. I know the future is bright for all three of them."
UCF, led by Angelica Crump with 13 kills and DeLaina Sarden with 12, finishes the year at 21-10 overall and 12-6 in the conference. The Knights won by scores of 25-12, 25-20 and 25-22.
The Owls were well-balanced on offense, with five players recording between five and seven kills in the match. Matautia and Kirsten Overton knocked down seven kills apiece, while Tyler Davis and Jennifer Iacobini finished with six. Iacobini was the Owls' most efficient hitter with a percentage of .462, committing zero errors.
Burkert added 10 digs to five kills, and Kayla Yingling tied for match-high honors with 13 digs. Sandra Sydlik led Temple with 31 assists, and Carlin recorded three kills in her final match.
The Owls had trouble getting anything going in the first set, and the Knights got strong performances out of Sarden and Crump to pull away. The two combined for nine kills and did not commit an error in the set as UCF won, 25-12.
Temple looked much stronger in the second set, which saw eight ties and three lead changes. The final tie came at 12-12 before the Knights took a lead for good. Temple was down 23-17 before rallying with three straight points to cut the deficit to three, but UCF came back to take the final two points and win 25-20.
The third set saw a similar rally by Temple, as the Owls were once again down 23-18 before coming back to within three at 23-20. They also fought off two match points with kills from Burkert and Matautia before the Knights got the final kill for a 25-22 set win.
