Temple University Athletics
Temple University
3-1
Coppin State
1-6
Temple Volleyball Takes Patriot Invitational Title With Saturday Wins Over Coppin State and George Mason
9.7.13 | Women's Volleyball
FAIRFAX, Va. - With 3-1 wins on Saturday over both host George Mason and Coppin State, as well as a 3-1 win over Radford on Friday, the Temple volleyball team captured the team title at the Patriot Invitational. Gabriella Matautia was named both Tournament MVP and Best Attacker, while the Owls' Sandra Sydlik earned Best Setter honors.
Temple is now 4-1 overall for the season and has won four straight matches.
"We were pretty consistent throughout the tournament with our serve receive and our serve," said Temple head coach Bakeer Ganes, when asked about the keys to success for the weekend. "I thought Coppin State was underrated. They were a really tough opponent. Overall, we finished sets and closed out games and that was really good...This gives the team confidence moving forward. We earned this tournament win."
Over the three matches, Matautia averaged an impressive 4.50 kills per set (54 total) along with 2.75 digs per set (33 total) and 1.08 blocks per set (13 total). Sydlik sat out the Coppin State match but played in the other two, totaling almost 100 assists in just eight sets (98 total, 12.25 per set) along with 2.12 digs per set.
"We worked really well together," said Matautia, "and we fought for every point and stuck to our game plan and the scouting reports. As a team we tried to keep up the intensity level. I think this weekend showed that our team has improved and we're happy with the progress, but we still do have a lot more to work on."
Another Owl putting up extremely strong numbers for the weekend was senior Emily Carlin, who recorded two double-doubles in Saturday's two matches. She knocked down a match-high 19 kills in the win over George Mason while adding a team-high 16 digs.
Temple defeated the Patriots by scores of 25-17, 18-25, 25-13 and 25-23. The momentum seemed sharply in favor of one team until the fourth set, which saw 14 ties after no others had seen more than three.
The Owls recorded 62 total kills to George Mason's 43, falling behind only in the second set but controlling most of the rest of the match.
Jennifer Iacobini and Matautia each had a kill in the pivotal final points of the fourth set. Iacobini finished the match with zero errors on 10 attempts with seven kills, and also led the team with seven blocks.
Carlin's double-double of 19 kills and 15 digs led the Owls in the Coppin State win, as they won the first set 25-14, lost the second 25-22 but went on to win the third and fourth by scores of 25-23.
Caroline Grattan had a very strong match against Coppin State, knocking down 17 kills. Matautia had a double-double of 14 kills and 11 digs and Alyssa Drachslin matched Carlin for team-high dig honors with 15. Tiffany Connatser added six digs to a match-best 50 assists.
Temple surged ahead early in the match, out-hitting the Eagles .444 to .037 with 14 kills and only two errors to win 25-14. With a few extra errors in the second set, the Owls fell behind and could not catch up down the stretch, losing 25-22.
The third set saw 12 ties, including the last at 23-23. Matautia put down a kill for set point and an attack error on Coppin State ended the set in favor of Temple, 25-23.
The Owls used a 6-0 run in the fourth set to take a 19-16 lead and later closed out the match with a kill by Grattan.
Temple will be back in action closer to home next weekend at the Penn Invitational. The Owls will face Weber State on Saturday, Sept. 14, before playing La Salle and Penn on Sunday.
