Volleyball Opens Conference Play with Sweep of USF

Friday, September 25

Tampa, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

10-3, 1-0

USF

3-10, 0-1

Temple

USF

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Volleyball Opens Conference Play with Sweep of USF

9.25.15 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

TAMPA, Fla. – The Temple volleyball team opened American Athletic Conference play with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-23) sweep on the road at USF. The Owls move to 10-3 overall with a 1-0 start to conference play, while the Bulls dip to 3-10, 0-1 in The American.

"Overall, it was a great team performance, our transition game was really efficient and I thought we were very stable on serve and serve receive." noted head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam. "It was a very disciplined and focused performance."

Junior Kirsten Overton racked up a team-high 12 kills, recording another spectacular hitting performance. The middle recorded just one error on 18 attempts to hit .611 for the match. Sophomores Izzy Rapacz and Irem Asci each recorded 10 kills, with Rapacz hitting .471. Junior Tyler Davis tallied six kills, while sophomore Janine Simmons had three kills and three blocks.

Also for the Owls, senior Sandra Sydlik dished out a match-high 35 assists, while adding nine digs. Senior Alyssa Drachslin posted a team-best 11 digs, while classmate Kayla Yingling added five.

Temple held an early lead in set one, going up 6-3, without needing to take a swing on the attack. USF hung around, staying within three points, until a 7-2 surge, which included four-straight Temple kills, put the Owls ahead, 21-13. USF closed the gap slightly, but Temple ended out the set on an Asci kill, making it 25-17.

USF jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set, but Temple responded with seven-straight, including an ace from Sydlik to make it 7-4 Owls. After the teams traded sideouts, Temple continued to surge, extending the lead to 20-10. USF would get no closer than a 10-point deficit, as the Owls closed out the set with a 25-14 score.

Set three was a close affair, with the match tied six times before it stood at 12-12 midway through play. USF surged forward with a 6-1 run to make it 18-13, before Temple closed it to 18-17 on a 4-0 run. The Bulls again took over momentum, going up 20-17, but this time, the Owls responded in a big way. Temple put together a 6-0 run, backed by two kills each from Overton and Rapacz to make it 23-20 Owls. USF closed the gap to 24-23, but Temple got the final two points of the set on kills from Overton and Asci to complete the sweep.

Temple continues its Florida road trip and now heads to Orlando. The Owls will play UCF at 1:00 p.m.

"We beat a very good South Florida team tonight," added Ganesharatnam. "Now all of our focus is on UCF."

Box Score (PDF)