Temple University Athletics
Temple University
Buffalo
Season Preview: Volleyball Team Starts the Year at the Buffalo Invite This Weekend
8.28.13 | Women's Volleyball
Live Stats l Live Video (Temple vs. Buffalo)
PHILADELPHIA - Exciting new challenges await third-year head coach Bakeer Ganes and the Temple volleyball team as the Owls enter their first season as a member of the newly-created American Athletic Conference. After a 2012 season that saw Temple continually surpass expectations, the Owls hope for no less as they embark on this new journey.
The season begins for Temple on Friday, Aug. 31 as the Owls face host Buffalo at the University at Buffalo Invite. On Saturday, Temple will play its second and final match of the weekend against Niagara. Neither are familiar opponents for the Owls, who are 1-0 all-time against Buffalo (1991) and have never faced Niagara.
Five starters return from a team that finished 19-11 overall and placed fifth in the Atlantic 10 Conference after having been picked to place 11th. Leading the way is senior outside hitter Gabriella Matautia, an Atlantic 10 First Team pick last year who led the team with 437 kills. Also back for her senior season is Elyse Burkert who was right there with Matautia, recording 426 kills and starting in every match for Temple.
"Our upperclassmen are going to play a big role," said Ganes. "They know our program, they know how we train, and most importantly, they know how to win. We have big expectations for Gabby and Elyse, not just on the court but off the court as well- to be leaders for the newcomers and to basically be a role model for all the other players. Being seniors, they understand this is their last shot- the last season in their careers here at Temple. We want to make sure we work hard enough and give them the support system so they can be successful this year."
Matautia provides more than just offense for Temple, and proved her prowess in the backcourt as well with 334 digs and 41 service aces last year.
"Gabby is our go-to person on the right side," said Ganes. "I'm looking for leadership from her on the court and off the court. I think she's going to be healthier than she was last year, so we really want to establish her as one of our go-to options on our offense."
Burkert has been a model of consistency for the Owls, and also has a strong presence on defense which showed with her 334 digs last season.
"Elyse has been tremendous for us as a leader not only on the court but off the court as well," noted Ganes. "She's probably one of the most improved players over the last three years. She has such a great level of commitment to this program. I know she is very excited about this upcoming season. She's going to be able to play down in Texas for the first time in her career at Temple, and her family is going to be there. We're really excited for her to have that opportunity."
Setter Tiffany Connatser, through which the offense runs, returns for her junior season after ranking second in the A-10 and 44th among all players in NCAA Division I with 10.88 assists per set last year.
"Tiffany came into our program as a freshman and competed and earned the starting spot. She was also our starting setter last year. We look forward to working with her again. I think she's going to take on more of a leadership position than she did last year. She matured a lot over the last year and we expect a lot from her. We want her to take on that role."
The Owls' other returning starter is junior middle blocker Jennifer Iacobini, who led the team with 78 blocks as a sophomore. Rounding out the returning players are sophomores Alyssa Drachslin, a defensive specialist/libero, and Alicia Wennberg, an outside hitter.
Seven new faces join the Owls this season, making up nearly half of the personnel. One of those, outside hitter Emily Carlin, joined the team in the spring after transferring from Radford and will play her senior season at Temple.
Outside hitter Tyler Davis (Palm Desert, Calif./Xavier College Prep), outside hitter Caroline Grattan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon), right side and middle hitter Halle McCullough, middle blocker Kristen Overton (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford), defensive specialist Mary Claire Tuohy (Glendale, Ariz./Mountain Ridge) and libero Kayla Yingling (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) will all be brand new to the Owls this season. All are true freshmen with the exception of Yingling who played one season with the University at Buffalo.
"I'm very excited about this new class," said Ganes. "All of them come from very established and high-caliber club teams. They are very athletic and I expect a lot from them right away. I think we're adding some size but also athleticism and skill to our program. The other quality they all have in common is they're very competitive which really fits in very nicely with our program and our philosophy. They also perform highly on the academic side as well which is a big plus for us."
Along with establishing chemistry among a team with a lot of new faces, the Owls will also be seeing lot of new faces across the net.
"I think the biggest challenge as we move conferences is the opponent," said Ganes. "They will be more athletic than the teams that we have faced in the Atlantic 10. Schools like Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, SMU, UConn and Houston are definitely teams that have more pedigree then most of the A-10 teams we have played over the years."
Despite the success of 2012, Ganes said he does not want to get caught up in the past. "We have to be careful about setting expectations for this year," he said. "It's a new conference and we have a lot of new personnel. We will have to implement our new players into our system and get our team chemistry where we want it to be."
Ganes' philosophy of not concerning himself with the number of wins has so far only led to more wins for Temple. His outlook is no different now.
"We really need to improve every year as a program and evolve as a team," Ganes said. "That's the main thing. If we accomplish that, I hope we can gather some wins, but I am not concerned about setting a goal number of wins or coming out saying we are going to win the conference. If we can improve and make the team better, everything else will play out on its own."
The season begins on August 30 for the Owls at the University at Buffalo Invite. The non-conference schedule once again includes the Temple Invitational in mid-September which will feature teams from Brown, Hofstra and Delaware State.
"Our non-conference schedule is as competitive as it was last year, if not more so," said Ganes. "Trips to Buffalo, George Mason and Penn as well as our home tournament on the fourth weekend will really prepare us for conference play. We open our American schedule with Cincinnati and Louisville which are probably the top two teams in the league. This schedule will be very competitive and very challenging, but also very exciting."
Each team in The American will play each other both at home and on the road. The American's regular season champion will earn the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
