Volleyball Takes Down ECU for 10th-Straight Win

Friday, November 14

McGonigle Hall

6:30 PM

Temple University

22-6, 13-3

East Carolina

13-13, 4-11

East Carolina

Temple

Alex Schmitt hit .636 in the win with seven kills and three blocks

Photo by: Ned Dishman

Volleyball Takes Down ECU for 10th-Straight Win

11.14.14 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Temple Volleyball won its 10th-straight game, knocking off conference-foe ECU in four sets (25-15, 25-9, 28-30, 25-22) on Friday evening at McGonigle Hall. The Owls moved to 22-6 overall, 13-3 in the American, while the Pirates fell to 13-13, 4-11 in conference.

Though the Owls didn't have their best performance today, head coach Bakeer Ganes is still proud of the team's achievement. "I think the fact that we won 10 in a row is amazing and that we've won 10 in a row in the conference is an even bigger achievement," he noted. "It's really tough to win matches in this conference so I'm very happy and very proud of the team. They've worked very hard for this."

Temple got a big night from from freshman Dara Peric who had 17 kills and 16 digs to record a double-double. Sophomore Caroline Grattan added 13 kills, while senior Jennifer Iacobini and sophomore Tyler Davis had nine kills each, with just one error between them. Rounding out the Owls attack, senior Alex Schmitt had a big night at the net with seven kills without an error, hitting .636 and also adding three blocks. Junior Sandra Sydlik dished out 42 assists in the win, while classmate Alyssa Drachslin added 16 digs.

Temple opened up a 10-6 lead in the first set and didn't look back.The Owls led by as many as 12 and quickly wrapped up a 25-15 victory. Temple hit .273 in the frame, paced by four kills from Davis and three each from Peric and sophomore Kirsten Overton.

The Owls continued to cruise in set two, bolstered by a .548 hitting percentage on 18 kills and just one error to take the set, 25-9. Temple did not fall behind in the frame, with the only ties coming at 0-0 and 4-4.

Down two sets, ECU rallied to take a tight third frame, 30-28. The Owls hit just .167 in the set, while the Pirates came alive and hammered 18 kills. ECU led 12-9 early, but Temple battled back to tie the match at 15-15 on a Pirates attack error. ECU grabbed a two-point edge at 21-19, but Temple rebounded to tie it once again as a huge hit from Schmitt knotted things at 21-21. The set featured five more ties, including 28-28 before ECU got a Montini kill and a Temple attack error to take the set, 30-28.

The fourth set was another close one as neither team could go ahead by more than two points. Tied late in the frame, 20-20, the Owls surged ahead on a kill and a pair of aces from Iacobini to make it 23-20. ECU cut it to a one-point deficit on an ace and another Montini kill to make it 23-22, but Temple got the final two points off the arm of Davis, taking the 25-22 set win and 3-1 match victory.

Ganes was happy with the way his squad finished out the match. "Even though we struggled a little bit in the middle of the match, we finished strong and got the W," he said. "And that win is really the most important thing."

After playing four matches in seven days, the Owls will get some much deserved rest. The team is back in action on the road a week from today, heading to Tulsa to begin its final road trip of the season with a 7:00 p.m. match.

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