Volleyball Travels to Memphis and Cincinnati this Weekend

PHILADELPHIA - The Temple volleyball team hits the road this weekend, heading to Memphis and Cincinnati for American Athletic Conference matches. On Friday, the third-place Owls (16-6, 7-3) square off against the second-place Tigers (18-6, 8-2) at 8:00 p.m. On Sunday, the Owls will wrap up their second-to-last road trip of the season with a 1:00 p.m. match against the Bearcats (13-9, 5-5).

Last weekend, Temple won its third and fourth straight matches with two American Athletic Conference victories at home. The Owls opened the action with a thrilling 3-2 win against SMU on Friday, as freshman Dara Peric (15 kills, 24 digs) and junior Sandra Sydlik (50 assists, 15 digs) both notched double-doubles. On Sunday, Temple topped Tulsa, 3-1, backed by a career-high 26 kills off the arm of sophomore Tyler Davis. Sophomore Kirsten Overton also aided the offense with 15 kills and a .458 hitting percentage.

Overton was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after hitting a combined .488 last weekend. The sophomore leads Temple with a .429 hitting percentage, which ranks her eighth in NCAA Division I and second in the conference, just tenths of a point off the leader. In 10 American matches this season, Davis leads the Owls with .383 kills per set (3rd in the conference), while junior Alyssa Drachslin averages a team-best 4.69 digs per set in American action. Sydlik captains the offense as setter, and averages 11.57 assists per set against conference teams.

The Owls lead the all-time series against Memphis, 2-1. In their earlier meeting this season, Memphis topped Temple 3-1 (15-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-18) on October 12. Alexis Wesley hit .455 with 13 kills for Memphis, while Peric (13 kills, 16 digs) had a double-double for Temple. The Tigers are led by Lauren Wright who averages 3.93 kills per set with a .339 hitting percentage. Memphis's Aleksandra Petronijevic averages 5.46 digs per set, while Alexis Wesley has 107 total blocks, both players lead the American in those categories.

Temple holds a 5-2 series advantage against Cincinnati. The Owls hit .398 in a 3-0 sweep (25-11, 25-17, 25-16) against Cincinnati earlier in the season. Davis led the Temple attack with 16 kills while hitting .456, while the Owls held the Bearcats to a .119 hitting percentage. Cincinnati is led by Emma Roberson's 3.68 kills per set, while Jamie Netisingha averages 4.58 digs per set.

OF NOTE...
• Temple is 16-6 overall this season, carrying a 7-3 mark against American Athletic Conference opponents.
• The Owls swept its matches last week at home, topping SMU (3-2) on Friday and defeating Tulsa (3-1) on Saturday.
• Temple has won four matches in a row, its longest winning streak since starting the season 6-0.
• The Owls are second in the American in three team categories: hitting percentage (.252), kills per set (13.79), and assists per set (12.95).
• Sophomore Kirsten Overton ranks 8th among all players in NCAA Division I with a hitting percentage of .429. She also ranks second in the American in the category.
• Overton earned a spot on the American Weekly Honor roll for the second time this season, hitting .488 last week with 2.89 kills/set.?She also had a season-best nine blocks vs. SMU.
• Sophomore Tyler Davis has recorded double-digit kill totals in seven of ten American matches this season, including posting 26 kills against SMU. She ranks third in the conference with 3.83 kills per set against American opponents.
• Junior Alyssa Drachslin has recorded double-digit dig numbers in all ten conference matches, including recording a season-best 30 against SMU. She averages 4.63 digs per set on the season.
• Memphis is 18-6 with an 8-2 mark in the American, ranking them second in the conference.
• On October 12, Memphis topped Temple 3-1 (15-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-18). Alexis Wesley hit .455 with 13 kills for Memphis, while Dara Peric (13 kills, 16 digs) had a double-double for Temple.
• The Tigers lead the American in opponent hitting percentage (.147) and digs per set (17.34).
• Memphis' Aleksandra Petronijevic leads the American with 5.46 digs per set, while Veronica Zimmerman (1,005 assists) and Alexis Wesley (107 blocks) also rank first in the conference.
• Cincinnati is 13-5 overall with a 5-5 mark in the American.
• On October 10, Temple hit .398 in a 3-0 sweep (25-11, 25-17, 25-16) against Cincinnati. Tyler Davis led the Owl attack with 16 kills while hitting .456, while the Bearcats hit only .119 as a team.
• Cincinnati is fourth in the American in hitting percentage, attacking at a .215 clip.
• Temple won three of the four tournaments it competed in this season, taking team titles at the Syracuse Invitational, its own Temple Invitational, and the Big 5 Tournament hosted by Penn.
• Sydlik was named the Big 5 Tournament MVP, Drachslin was named the Tournament MVP of the Temple Invitational, and Overton was named the Tournament MVP of the Syracuse Invitational.
• Temple players have appeared on the American Weekly Honor Roll seven times in 2014. Sydlik, Overton, and Drachslin have each done it twice, Davis has also appeared on the list.
• Head Coach Bakeer Ganes is now in his fourth year at the helm of the program, with an overall record of 61-49... His record for the last two seasons (2012 and 2013) was 37-23.

Volleyball Travels to Memphis and Cincinnati this Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Tyler Davis

Alyssa Drachslin

Kirsten Overton

Dara Peric

Sandra Sydlik

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