Cincinnati Upends Visiting Volleyball, 3-1

Friday, October 30

Cincinnati, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

16-7, 7-4American

Cincinnati

15-7, 7-4American

Temple University

Cincinnati

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Cincinnati Upends Visiting Volleyball, 3-1

10.30.15 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

CINCINNATI — The Temple volleyball team dropped a 3-1 match to Cincinnati on the road on Friday night. In a tight match of runs, the Bearcats were the team to surge at the right time, taking it 25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 25-15. Cincinnati moves to 15-7 overall, 7-4 in The American, while Temple falls to 16-7 overall, 7-4 in conference play.

Cincinnati out-hit the Owls, .261 to .136, while also out-blocking Temple, 13-6. Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam thinks the team competed in every set, but in the end, Cincinnati just executed better than the Owls.

"Cincinnati performed at a really high level today, they were good on offense, but their defense also played really well, making it hard for our hitters," he noted. "A few times we got stuck in a rotation and couldn't side out. The good news is that it's something we can analyze and make adjustments, and fix going forward."

Three Temple players recorded double-figures in kills, led by sophomore Irem Asci who recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 15 digs. Classmate Izzy Rapacz put down 11 kills, while junior Tyler Davis added 10. Junior Kirsten Overton had eight kills and three blocks, hitting a team-best .381, while sophomore Janine Simmons had five kills and a pair of blocks. Senior Sandra Sydlik captained the offense, dishing out 45 assists, while adding seven digs.

Defensively, senior Alyssa Drachlin led all players with 17 digs, followed by Asci's 15. Sophomore Dara Peric had 14 digs, while senior Kayla Yingling added 13.

Temple dug itself an early hole at the outset of set one, falling behind 11-5. The Owls cut the gap to four, but Cincinnati extended its lead to 17-8 on the strength of reigning American Offensive Player of the Week, Jordan Thompson. The Owls weren't done, however, mounting an 8-2 run to cut the lead to just three at 19-16. Temple kept it close down the stretch, but Cincinnati was able to close it out, ending the set on a block and a kill, making it 25-21.

Set two was a tight battle, featuring 11 ties before either team reached 15 points. Temple took a 12-10 lead before Cincinnati scored four in a row to go up 14-12. The Owls answered with kills from Rapacz and Davis to tie the match once again, this time at 14-14. Several more sideouts pushed the score to 17-17 before Cincinnati strung together a Thompson kill and a Temple error to put the Bearcats ahead, 19-17. However, Temple's Overton provided the spark the Owls needed, recording three kills and a block in the final stretch, earning the visitors a 25-23 win.

Set three started off like set two, with six early ties. Temple held an early 8-7 lead before a 6-0 run, which included three Davis kills, put the Owls up, 13-7. Temple kept the margin to around six points points, until a 5-1 Cincinnati run closed the gap to 19-16. Temple rebounded with kills from Asci and Overton to re-gain a four-point cushion (21-17) before the Bearcats again fought back, going on a 7-1 run to take a 24-22 lead. Davis added a kill for the Owls to halt the run, but Cincinnati won it on a Thompson kill, taking it 25-23.

Cincinnati had the early advantage in set four, taking advantage of several Temple attack errors to go up 8-4, forcing an Owl timeout. Out of the break, Temple responded with a 4-2 run, as Asci and Rapacz kills pushed the Owls to within two points at 10-8. Cincinnati pushed forward, however, increasing their advantage to 16-9. The Owls were unable to get the deficit below eight points down the stretch, as Cincinnati closed out the match victory with a 25-15 set win.

Cincinnati had two players combine for 41 of its 57 kills, led by 21 from Thompson. "She is tremendous talent and is getting better and better each match," said Ganesharatnam. "As a team, we had a game plan to contain her, and we actually did a good job, but we weren't able to capitalize on offense and finish some plays when it counted."

The Owls stay on the road, traveling to Memphis for a Sunday afternoon match-up with the Tigers.

Box Score (PDF)