Tulsa Snaps Volleyball's Win Streak with Five-Set Victory

Friday, November 21

Tulsa, Okla.

8:00 PM

Temple University

22-7, 13-4AAC

Tulsa

20-8, 12-5AAC

Temple

Tulsa

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Tulsa Snaps Volleyball's Win Streak with Five-Set Victory

11.21.14 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

TULSA, Okla. — Temple volleyball's 10-match win streak came to an end with a 3-2 loss on the road at Tulsa on Friday night. After falling behind 0-2, Temple battled back to force a fifth set, but couldn't complete the comeback, as the Hurricane grabbed a 25-18, 29-27, 16-25, 15-25, 15-10 win.

Temple remains in second place in the American with a 13-4 record, 22-7 overall. Tulsa improves to 12-5 in the conference, 20-8 overall.

Three players recorded double-doubles for the Owls, led by junior Sandra Sydlik who picked up 38 assists and 19 digs. Freshman Dara Peric ended the night with 12 kills and 15 digs, while sophomore Tyler Davis added 11 kills and 12 digs. Junior Alyssa Drachslin led all players with 28 digs in the match, while sophomore Kirsten Overton picked up five kills and a match-high eight blocks. Rounding out the box score, senior Jennifer Iacobini had nine kills and seven blocks, while freshman Izzy Rapacz had four kills and five blocks.

Temple jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the first set, as Tulsa suffered three attack errors, including a block from McCullough and Iacobini. Tulsa battled back to tie the match at 7-7 and then opened its first lead shortly after, on an Erica Bohannen winner. Tulsa maintained a three-point edge most of the way, until Temple cut it to 13-12 on a Iacobini kill. The Hurricane rebounded and pulled away, closing out the set with a 12-5 run to take the early 1-0 edge with a 25-18 win.

It was Tulsa that had the early lead in the second set, but the Owls quickly battled back to tie at 7-7 and eventually took a 9-6 lead on a block from Sydlik and Iacobini. Tulsa rebounded to tie the match at 15-15 on a Temple attack error but Temple answered with a pair of blocks and added a kill from Sydlik to make it 20-16. Tulsa surged down the stretch, tying the match at 24-24 and then taking a 25-24 lead on a Bohannon kill. Temple spoiled match point for Tulsa on several occasions, but the Hurricane got a kill from Valerie El Houssine and a Owl attack error to take the set, 29-27, going up 2-0.

"We made some mistakes on serve-receive in the first set, and our serving wasn't good enough," said head coach Bakeer Ganes. "Those mistakes put pressure on our hitters and we weren't able to execute."

Set three stayed close throughout the early action, with Temple edging ahead on a Davis and Overton block at 9-7. Tulsa rebounded and took over the lead as late as 14-12, before Temple knotted it at 14-14 on a Peric kill. The Owls then took over, closing out the set on an 11-2 run to take the frame, 25-16, forcing a fourth set.

Tulsa led 1-0 in set, but that was the last lead the Hurricanes would have in the set. Temple tied the match at 1-1, 2-2 and then grabbed the advantage at 4-2 and never looked back. The Owls held Tulsa to a -0.24 hitting percentage in the frame grabbing a 25-15 win to force a fifth set.

Ganes credited the turnaround to improved serving and passing. "When you're down 0-2 on the road, it's really tough to get back the match," he explained. "But we served better and the serve-receive cleaned up and it took the pressure off the attack."
The teams traded points in the early part of set five, before Tulsa opened up a 9-6 lead on a Paige Panfil kill. Temple tied the set at 10-10 after an ace and a kill from Iacobini, but Tulsa scored the final five points of the night to take the set, 15-10, and the match, 3-2.
"Even though we lost, we played a pretty good match," added Ganes. "I'm proud of the way the team carried themselves, during and after the match."

Temple is back in action on Sunday at SMU, playing the Mustangs at 2 p.m.

Box Score (PDF)