Volleyball Beats Penn in Straight Sets to Win Big 5 Invitational; Owls Record Three Sweeps in Three Matches

Saturday, September 20

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00 PM

Temple University

9-3

Penn

3-7

Temple

Penn

Big 5 Tournament Champions

Volleyball Beats Penn in Straight Sets to Win Big 5 Invitational; Owls Record Three Sweeps in Three Matches

9.20.14 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - With three sweeps in three matches, Temple volleyball captured its third team title of the season at the Big 5 Tournament hosted by Penn. The Owls (9-3) swept La Salle on Friday night and followed that up with two more 3-0 wins against Villanova and Penn on Saturday.

Junior setter Sandra Sydlik was named the Big 5 Tournament MVP, and was joined on the Big 5 All-Tournament Team by sophomore middle blocker Kirsten Overton.

In the final match of the weekend, Temple defeated Penn (3-6) by scores of 25-14, 25-23 and 25-17.

"I think it's a great bragging right and a great accomplishment for the team," said Temple head coach Bakeer Ganes. "They didn't just win the tournament, they won it by going 9-0 (in sets). That's very tough to do. We won this tournament the last time we played it, so we defended our title which is a neat thing.

"Every time we play the Big 5 Tournament, people really step up their level of play. They want to prove themselves and get bragging rights. All four teams and all three matches were very competitive."

Addressing his team's turnaround after some close losses last weekend, Ganes said it was the practices this week that really made the difference.

"We didn't do much different here this weekend," he said, "but we did a lot different throughout the week in practice. We analyzed the mistakes we made at certain crucial times in the matches last weekend, and really worked on those. The work we did throughout the week was reflected in our performance this weekend."

Sydlik notched a double-double against Penn with 34 assists and 11 digs, while also getting five blocks and three aces. Caroline Grattan knocked down 14 kills, and Tyler Davis added 10.

Alyssa Drachslin led the Owls with 14 digs, and Alex Schmitt added five blocks to five kills. Overton hit .400 in the match with five kills, and Dara Peric finished with seven kills.

Temple served up six aces on its way to a 25-14 win in the first set, with Sydlik accounting for three of those. Davis led the Owls with four kills in the set, while Drachslin recorded seven digs. Temple closed the set on a 7-1 run which included a pair of aces for Grattan that made up two of the final three points.

The teams played much more evenly in the second set, which saw a total of 18 ties and four lead changes. The Owls used a short run for a 22-19 lead, but Penn came right back and tied it up at 22-22. After another tie at 23 all, Sydlik tipped the ball over for a kill and then teamed up with Schmitt for a block to end the set at 25-23 in favor of Temple.

Both Grattan and Davis recorded five kills in the second set, and Sydlik talled assists on 14 of the Owls' 17 kills.

Seven of Grattan's 14 kills came in the third set as she helped the Owls to a 25-17 win. As a team, Temple knocked down 16 kills and committed just a single error to hit a match-best .469.

The Owls have now completed non-conference play with a record of 9-3. Temple's first American Athletic Conference match will take the Owls to UConn for a 7:00 p.m. match on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

"They have the right to be happy and be proud of this (title)," said Ganes, "but we have bigger goals. We have conference play starting next week, and we want to get into conference play and accomplish the goals we set for ourselves."