Volleyball Knocks Off League-Leading UCF; Owls Win Eighth Straight Match

Sunday, November 9

McGonigle Hall

1:00 PM

Temple University

20-6, 11-3

UCF

20-6, 13-1

UCF

Temple

Temple snapped UCF's 13-match winning streak

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Volleyball Knocks Off League-Leading UCF; Owls Win Eighth Straight Match

11.9.14 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Temple Volleyball snapped UCF's 13-match win streak with a 3-1 victory at home in a battle of the top two teams in the American Athletic Conference. The Owls rebounded from a first set loss, to take the match 14-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-20, winning their eighth in a row. Temple improves to 20-6 overall (11-3 American), hitting the 20-win mark for the first time since 2005. UCF, who came into the match ranked 27th in the country, falls to 20-6, 13-1 in the conference.

The Owls held the American's top-offensive team in check, allowing just a .215 clip from the Knights' attack. Sophomore Tyler Davis (14 kills) and freshman Dara Peric (13 kills) paced the Owls offense, with Peric recording only one error in the match to hit .353. Sophomore Kirsten Overton had nine kills to go along with five blocks, while senior Jennifer Iacobini and junior Halle McCullough each added seven kills and a pair of blocks. Junior Sandra Sydlik dished out 45 assists in the win, while junior Kayla Yingling had 16 digs and classmate Alyssa Drachslin added 11.

UCF got off to a hot start, opening the first set with a 10-2 advantage. The visitors lead grew to 14-3 before the Owls battled back for the next four points to make it 14-7. UCF surged ahead with a 6-0 run that made it 20-7. Temple saw some life at the end of the set with five straight points on a Sydlik serving run, but UCF closed out the game with massive hits from DeLaina Sarden and Jale Hervey to grab a 25-14 win.

Head coach Bakeer Ganes knew the Owls could turn things around after the first set. "UCF had a great start, we certainly made some mistakes, but we didn't make those mistakes because of lack of skill, they were more uncharacteristic," he explained. "We knew that we could make adjustments and improve."

Temple turned the momentum its way, hitting .312 with only one error in set two. UCF jumped out to an early 9-4 lead and led 12-9 after another Sardin kill. Though the Owls played down through much of the early action, they kept UCF within two points most of the set. The Owls eventually broke through and tied the match at 15-15, and 19-19, using hot hitting from Peric. Temple then made a final surge count, scoring the last six points of the set with Drachslin on the line. Two kills each from Davis and McCullough and a Drachslin ace on the final serve, handed the hosts a 25-19 win.

Set three stayed within two points much of the way and was tied 15-15 after 30 points had been played. It was Temple that finally took control, scoring three straight to go up 18-15. UCF wouldn't go away, cutting the lead to 18-17 on a Taylor Gallert kill, but the Owls used aggressive serving from Sandra Sydlik to spark a 7-0 run to close out the set. Peric had three kills in the final four points, while a huge block from Overton and McCullough also aided the Owls.

Ganes pointed to two areas that turned things around for Temple -- serving and serve-receive. "Serving was a major aspect, whenever you struggle and things aren't working, you have to go back to the basics," he noted. "We wanted to focus on serving and we wanted to stabilize our offense with our serve receive. Once we did that, it gave us some stability and allows us to get back into a rhythm."

Leading 2-1 in the match, the Owls were dominant in the final set to wrap up the win. UCF led 4-1 early in the set, but Temple battled back to tie things at 5-5. That was the last time the Knights would keep pace with the Owls, as Temple quickly gained control, opening up a 13-7 lead. Davis came on strong in the final action recording five kills, including one that gave Temple its largest lead of the set at 22-13. UCF didn't go away quietly, scoring five straight to make it a 22-18 set, but the Owls rebounded to go up 24-18, and after two more UCF points, a booming Overton kill clinched the match for Temple.

The Owls get little time to enjoy the win, as UConn comes to town on Wednesday evening for a 7:00 p.m. conference match. Temple will look to avenge an earlier loss to the Huskies.

Box Score (PDF) | Post-Match Interviews/Highlights