Temple Volleyball Heads to Florida to Open Conference Play

Friday, September 25

Tampa, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

USF

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Temple Volleyball Heads to Florida to Open Conference Play

9.24.15 | Women's Volleyball

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple volleyball team opens conference play this weekend, traveling to Florida for a pair of American Athletic Conference matches. The Owls open the road trip at USF, playing the Bulls on Friday at 7:00 p.m. Temple will then play at UCF on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: TEMPLE
Temple finished second at the 2015 Philadelphia Big 5 Tournament. The Owls opened the event with sweeps over La Salle and Penn, before falling to tournament champion, Villanova. Temple hit .230 in the tournament, holding opponents to .116. Sophomore Irem Asci racked up 4.40 kills per set, while juniors Kirsten Overton (2.8 k/s) and Tyler Davis (2.30 k/s) also paced the Temple attack. Senior Sandra Sydlik dished out 10.7 assists per set, while classmate Alyssa Drachslin averaged a team-best 4.00 digs per set.

BIG FIVE LEADERS
Overton led all Big 5 players with a .581 hitting percentage and 18 total blocks. Asci had a tournament-high 44 kills, while sophomore Dara Peric tied for the lead with four aces. Dracshlin was also second in the tournament with 40 total digs.

AMERICAN HONOR ROLL
Overton earned her first American Athletic Conference honor of the season on Monday, being named to the conference's weekly honor roll. The junior racked up 28 kills with just three errors, hitting .581 in three matches. At the net, Overton tallied 18 total blocks, averaging 1.80 per set, en route to an All-Tournament selection. Against La Salle, she hit .750 with nine kills on 12 swings without an error, also picking up seven blocks. In a win over Penn, she had seven kills on 10 attempts and added six blocks. Closing out the weekend, Overton tallied 12 kills with two errors and had five blocks against Villanova.

ALL-TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCES
Following the action at the the Big 5 Tournament, six players were announced as All-Tournament selections. Temple was represented on the team by Overton and Asci. Overton earned her first tournament honors of the season, while Asci has been on All-Tournament teams for three of the four non-conference events for Temple.

OWL LEADERS
Asci has racked up a team-leading 4.29 kills per set, while Tyler Davis (3.03) and Izzy Rapacz (2.61) also bolster the Temple attack. Overton leads the team in hitting percentage, attacking at a .442 clip. Sydlik runs the offense, dishing out 11.3 assists per set.

Defensively, Alyssa Drachslin has racked up 199 total digs, averaging 4.85 per set. Overton leads the Owl blockers, with 46 total, while Rapacz has racked up 39 and sophomore Janine Simmons has 37, including a team-leading six solo.

NATIONALLY-RANKED
Temple appears in the top-20 in three national stat categories this week. The Owls are 11th in the nation hitting percentage, and also lead The American, with a .289 clip. Temple also ranks 18th in the nation in kills per set (14.34) and 19th in assists per set (13.34), leading the American in both categories.

Individually, Overton ranks 11th in the nation and first in the conference in hitting percentage (.442). Sydlik 16th nationally in assists per set (11.34), good for second in the conference. Elsewhere, Asci is 23th in Division I with 4.29 kills per set and Drachslin is 44th in digs per set with 4.85. Both rank second in the American in those categories.

SCOUTING USF
USF is 3-9 overall, but is coming off a 3-0 sweep over FAMU, which broke a nine-match losing streak. As a team, USF is hitting .196, while opponents hit .263 against the Bulls.

Individually, Dakota Hampton leads USF with 3.03 kills per set, while Denishe Belcher has added 2.91 per set. Joli Holland hits a team-high .338 from the middle, while Alex Mendoza (4.36 a/s) and Natalia Soares (4.15 a/s) share setting duties. Wylie Devlin heads the Bulls' defense, averaging 4.73 digs per frame. Hampton also contributes on defense with 3.18 digs per set. At the net, Holland has a team-best 26 total blocks.

SCOUTING UCF
UCF is 6-6 on the season, falling in five out of their last six matches. The Knights are the defending American Athletic Conference Championships and earned a bid to the 2014 NCAA Tournament after their third-straight 20-win season last year.

Returning All-Conference honorees, Kia Bright and Jale Hervey lead the Knight attack. Hervey has racked up 4.57 kills per set, while Bright has averaged 4.24. Taylor Wickey leads the team with a .466 hitting percentage, while Miranda Watkins (6.02 a/s) and Dana Faught (5.57 a/s) split setting responsibilities. Defensively, Jordan Pingel has averaged 4.72 digs per set to lead the Knights, while Bright has contributed 3.11 per frame. Wickey leads the UCF block with 37 total on the season, while Bright has a team-high 10 solo blocks.

OWLS AGAINST THE FIELD
Temple is 2-10 all-time against USF, but won both meetings in 2014. UCF also owns the all-time series against Temple, but by a slim, 4-3, margin. The Owls and the Knights split the season series last year, with each team winning their home contest.

NEXT UP
Temple will host Memphis and Cincinnati in their first home American Athletic Conference series. The Owls will welcome the Tigers to McGonigle Hall next Friday at 7:00 p.m. and will then host the Bearcats on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Match Notes (PDF) | Live Stats (vs USF) | Live Video (vs. USF) | Live Video (vs. UCF)