Volleyball Downs Cincinnati for Sixth-Straight Victory

Sunday, November 2

Cincinnati, Ohio

1:00 PM

Temple University

18-6, 9-3American

Cincinnati

13-11, 5-7American

Temple

Cincinnati

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Volleyball Downs Cincinnati for Sixth-Straight Victory

11.2.14 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Temple volleyball matched its longest winning streak of the season, defeating Cincinnati, 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-22), on the road on Sunday in American Athletic Conference action. The win was the sixth in a row for the Owls, who move to 19-6 overall, 9-3 in the conference. The Bearcats fall to 13-11 overall, 5-7 in the American.

Three players notched double-doubles for the Owls, led by sophomore Tyler Davis who recorded 15 kills and 14 digs. Freshman Dara Peric had 11 kills and 11 digs, while junior Sandra Sydlik tallied 47 assists and 11 digs. Senior Jennifer Iacobini had another strong performance, recording 12 kills and adding a team-high four blocks, while sophomore Kirsten Overton (8 kills) and junior Halle McCullough (6 kills) added to the offense. Junior Alyssa Drachslin topped the Owls with 15 digs, while classmate Kayla Yingling had 11 digs and a pair of aces.

Cincinnati had the early edge in set one, scoring the first five points. The Owls quickly battled back to tie the score and the set was tied as late as 18-18. The hosts had the final surge, however, as Cincinnati scored seven of the next nine, including three kills and an ace in the final four points, to take a 25-20 win.

Temple led from start to finish in set two, hitting .308 as a team with just two errors. Cincinnati got as close as 14-10, midway through action, but the Owls closed it out with two Overton winners and one each from Davis and Peric to tie the match at 1-1.

Head coach Bakeer Ganes was happy with the team's turnaround after the first set. "It's really tough to play on the road with this schedule," he said. "When you're exhausted and certain aspects of your game aren't working, it's important to keep the other mistakes low. Even if you play ugly, you have to find a way to sideout and move on."

Set three was close through the midway point, with the Owls holding on to a 16-14 advantage. Temple increased its lead to 21-15, forcing four-straight Cincinnati attack errors, but the Bearcats rattled off a 9-3 run to tie the match at 24-24. Temple then closed the door with a Cincinnati service error and a Iacobini kill to win the set, 26-24, taking a 2-1 match lead.

It was Cincinnati with an early advantage in the fourth set, as the Bearcats went ahead 12-6. Temple used some hot hitting to tie the match on a Iacobini at 15-15 and then slowly built an 22-18 advantage. After the teams traded sideouts, two Iacobini kills and one from Peric, gave the set and the match to the Owls.

Through Cincinnati made two big comebacks late in the third and fourth sets, Temple never trailed after 20 points. Ganes said this fact was crucial to the win. "It was really important for us not to give up the lead, especially in the fourth set. You don't want to play a fifth on the road," he noted. "The team did a great job hanging in there because they could have easily given up and used travel as an excuse. I'm very proud of the way they fought through and were able to pull out a win today."

Temple returns home for a pair of tough conference opponents next weekend. The Owls will host USF on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and then play UCF on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Box Score