Volleyball Sweeps Villanova to Improve to 2-0 at the Big 5 Tournament

Saturday, September 20

Philadelphia, Pa.

10:00 AM

Temple University

8-3

Villanova

6-9

Villanova

Temple

Caroline Grattan led all players with 13 kills and 17 digs

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Volleyball Sweeps Villanova to Improve to 2-0 at the Big 5 Tournament

9.20.14 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA (Palestra) - With another sweep, this time against Villanova, Temple volleyball improved to 2-0 at the Big 5 Tournament on Saturday morning. The Owls (8-3) will take on Penn at 7:00 p.m. in the final match of the weekend, looking to finish at 3-0 after also sweeping La Salle on Friday night.

Temple took down Villanova (6-9) by scores of 25-15, 25-13 and 30-28 in a hard-fought third set.

Caroline Grattan led all players with match highs of 13 kills and 17 digs. Alex Schmitt added 10 kills while hitting .588 with zero errors, and Kirsten Overton recorded nine kills while hitting .615 and getting three blocks.

Alyssa Drachslin and Dara Peric tallied 16 and 11 digs, respectively. Setter Sandra Sydlik was a major factor in the Owls' success, getting assists on 41 of 51 kills while also tallying nine digs and two aces.

The first set had seven early ties, the last at 9-9 before the Owls pulled away. Temple used a 10-1 run, fueled by two aces from Jennifer Iacobini, to take a 19-10 lead. Schmitt put down two kills for the final two points as the Owls won the set 25-15.

Grattan knocked down six kills in the second set alone against Villanova, helping the Owls to a 25-13 win. Temple trailed 10-7 before going on an 8-0 run, and ultimately closed out the set on an 18-3 run. As a team, Temple recorded 17 kills with just a single error to hit .552, while the Wildcats hit just .133.

The intense third set had 15 ties as the teams traded points down the stretch. The Owls had five match points that were all thwarted by Villanova, but they hung tough and never allowed the Wildcats to have a set point of their own. Finally at 29-28 after an error on Villanova, Schmitt put down the match-winning kill for Temple.

Check back tonight for final results of the tournament. Fans can watch a live webcast of the match against Penn HERE, and follow along on live stats HERE.