Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller Against SMU

Friday, October 24

McGonigle Hall

7:00 PM

Temple University

15-6, 6-3

SMU

16-5, 5-4

SMU

Temple

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller Against SMU

10.24.14 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Temple volleyball team won a five-set thriller over SMU in American Athletic Conference action on Friday night at McGonigle Hall. The Owls nabbed the win with set scores of 25-17, 25-22, 20-25, 25-27, and 15-10, to move to 15-6 overall, 6-3 in the American. SMU falls to 16-5, 5-4 in the American.

A large crowd was on hand to help the Owls celebrate "Dig Pink," a breast cancer awareness event, benefitting the Side-Out Foundation. Head Coach Bakeer Ganes once again pointed to the crowd as being a factor in the outcome of the match. "When the students come out here, it makes a huge difference. The energy we get from the people that come out to watch, really makes us play better."

Sophomore Tyler Davis and freshman Dara Peric each tallied 15 kills in the win, with Peric adding a career-best 24 digs for the double-double. Sophomore Kirsten Overton tied a career-high with nine blocks, and also recorded 11 kills with just one error to hit .526. Junior Sandra Sydlik notched a double-double with 50 assists and 15 digs, while classmate Alyssa Drachslin recorded 30 digs, a new career high for the junior. Rounding out the box score for the Owls, junior Halle McCullough (8) and senior Jennifer Iacobini (7) combined for 15 kills, while junior Kayla Yingling recorded 17 digs.

Temple grabbed an early lead in the first set, using long serving runs from Iacobini and Peric to jump out to a 15-8 advantage. SMU brought it back to within four on a Janelle Giordano kill, but the Owls rolled down the stretch, finishing out the 25-17 win.

Set two saw SMU take charge at the outset, building an 11-2 lead, including three aces and four Temple attack errors. The Owls clawed back, cutting the lead to four at 15-11 on a McCullough winner, before finally tying the match at 21-21 on an Overton kill. After a SMU timeout, two kills each from Overton and McCullough ended the match 25-22 in Temple's favor.

Ganes thinks the crowd support helped the team rally to win the second set. "I don't think we could have done it without the crowd," he noted. "I think they were a major factor in the comeback. If we didn't have the crowd behind us, we would have lost that set."

SMU was quick to grab a lead in set three, as Abbey Bybel struck for four kills in the early action to help the Mustangs to a 13-5 edge. Temple cut the lead to four on two occasions, but SMU held on for the 25-20 victory.

"We really had to work for that win in set two, SMU was just getting started," said Ganes "In the third set, they really got into a rhythm, moved the ball around the court, and made it really tough for us. Even though we lost, we wanted to make them earn it and play all the way to the last point, in order to get momentum for the next set."

Set four featured 13 ties and eight lead changes as the teams were separated by just a point through most of the action. SMU got some breathing room with a 19-16 advantage before Temple battled back to take a 21-19 lead on a Sydlik ace. SMU rebounded to tie it at 22-22 and had match point spoiled twice by Temple until it was 25-all. A Giordano kill and an Owl attack error then gave the win to the visitors, forcing a deciding fifth set.

The fifth set was another close one, with neither team carrying more than a two-point edge until the final Temple charge. SMU was the first to eight, as the Mustangs led 8-7 at the changeover. After a Temple timeout, the Owls took a 10-9 lead on an Overton kill. SMU tied it at 10-10 before Iacobini took over, recording three-straight kills, including one at the end of a marathon rally to give Temple the momentum and a 13-10 lead. Following an SMU timeout, the Owls ended the set with a Davis kill and a Mustang attack error, earning the 15-10 set win and 3-2 match win.

Ganes noted the importance of every single play in the deciding fifth set. "When you experience a fifth set, it goes really fast," he explained. "Any mistake you make is very crucial, but the good thing is that every good play you make seems like it's worth double. We took advantage of that, every play we made was important, and at the end, you get excited, you just want to prove to everyone that you can do it."

Temple is back in McGonigle Hall on Sunday with another American match. The Owls will play host to Tulsa at 12:00 p.m.

Box Score (PDF) | Post-Match Interviews