Volleyball Sweeps Houston on the Road

Sunday, November 8

Houston, Texas

1:00 p.m.

Temple University

18-8, 9-5

Houston

16-10, 6-8

Temple University

Houston

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Volleyball Sweeps Houston on the Road

11.8.15 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

HOUSTON — The Temple volleyball team earned a 3-0 sweep on the road at Houston in American Athletic Conference action on Sunday. The Owls won it using set scores of 25-20, 25-17, and 25-16, moving to 18-8 overall and 9-5 in The American. Houston falls to 16-10, 6-8 in conference play.

Head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam was pleased with the overall team effort in the win. "We knew we needed to be consistent in every aspect of the game," he noted. "Today we did that, we served aggressively and our serve-receive was good. It was like a chain reaction, we had that going, Sandra really put our hitters in a good position to succeed, and they executed at a high level."

The Owls hit .289 as a team, holding Houston to just a .129 attack. Junior Tyler Davis and sophomore Irem Asci each tallied 10 kills, with Davis hitting .364, and Asci adding 13 digs for her second-straight double-double. Temple's middles combined for 12 kills and a .480 hitting percentage, as junior Kirsten Overton had seven kills without a miscue, and freshman Carla Guennewig added five kills. Guennewig had a day in her first career start, tying sophomore Izzy Rapacz for the team lead in blocks with four.

Senior Alyssa Drachslin had 11 digs, while classmate Kayla Yingling added eight in the win. Senior Sandra Sydlik ran the offense, tallying 36 assists in the match, while also recording six digs.

Sydlik is a game removed from recording her 3,000th career assist, a milestone Ganesharatnam is proud of. "To get to 3,000 assists is a tremendous achievement," he said. "She's in a prestigious group and it reflects on a great career. She'll be the first to tell you that she couldn't have done it without great passers and hitters around her, but I'm very proud of her and her achievement."

Through a tight first set, the Owls held a slim lead, going up 11-8 on a kill from Overton. Houston scored three in a row to knot things at 11-11, but Temple responded with a 5-1 run, which included three Asci kills, to make it 16-12. Down the stretch, Houston cut the Temple lead to just two, including at 22-20, but Overton and Davis hammered kills for two of the final three points, as the Owls took it, 25-20.

Temple jumped out to a 3-0 lead in set two, and did not relinquish the advantage. The Owls lead rose to 7-2, but after a small run from Houston, Temple led just 8-5. Following the surge from the Cougars, Temple went on a 5-0 run to break open the set. Davis had a pair of kills, while Asci and Overton also put balls to the floor during the run. Temple's lead got to 21-13 late in the set, before Houston made it 23-17. However, Temple got the final two points it needed, using a Houston attack error and a Davis kill to seal it, 25-17.

Houston led early in the third set, going up 6-3. Temple battled back, using a 6-1 run to take over the lead, as kills from Guennewig and Rapacz boosted the Owls to an 12-9 advantage. Following a Houston timeout, Temple continued its run, as another surge, this time, 5-1, saw the Owls push it to a 17-11 score. The Cougars clawed back to make it 18-15, but Temple shut down their run with three-straight kills from Davis to make it 21-15. Houston would get no closer, as the Owls closed out the set on a Peric ace and a Rapacz kill to make it 25-16, sealing the sweep.

With today's win, the Owls are alone in second place in the conference standings. Though Temple now has five of its final six games at home, the schedule does not get easy. "It's a long season in a very competitive conference," said Ganesharatnam. "We know we have to come out every game ready to play."

Temple returns to action on Friday at home, hosting UCF at 6:00 p.m. The Owls are hosting a White Out night and students in attendance will receive free t-shirts. Fans are encouraged to wear white.

Box Score (PDF)