Owl Volleyball Finishes as Seton Hall Tournament Runner-Up

Saturday, September 5

South Orange, N.J.

7:30 p.m.

Temple University

4-2

Seton Hall

4-2

Temple University

Seton Hall

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Owl Volleyball Finishes as Seton Hall Tournament Runner-Up

9.5.15 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — Temple finished its second-straight tournament as runner-up, as the Owls fell to the hosts, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-19) in the final match of the Seton Hall Invitational. Temple moves to 4-2 on the season with the loss, while Seton Hall, a 2014 NCAA tournament team, also moves to 4-2.

Head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam credits Seton Hall's defense and overall play for the tough loss.
"Seton Hall has put together a great team," he noted. "They are really strong and scrappy on defense, and they played very well today."

Temple hit .224 as a team, but struggled defensively. The Owls also had trouble passing, as Seton Hall was able to keep Temple out of their system.

Individually, sophomore Irem Asci had a team-best 12 kills, while junior Tyler Davis has 10 kills. Sophomore Izzy Rapacz had six kills and three blocks, while senior Sandra Sydlik dished out 34 assists. Senior Alyssa Drachslin had a team-high 13 kills to lead the Owl back-row effort.

Temple led through the early part of the first set, holding the lead until it was 8-7. Seton Hall took over with an 11-4 run, capitalizing on several Owl attack errors. Temple worked its way back into the set with strong hitting from junior Kirsten Overton, but Seton Hall was able to close out the 25-23 set.

Set two saw Seton Hall open with the early momentum, using strong hitting to open up a 17-12 advantage. Once again, Temple was able to battle back, as the Owls tied the match on three occasions, including as late as 21-21. Seton Hall again was able to finish out the set, posting a 25-22 win to take a 2-0 lead.

Temple was close in the early part of set three, but Seton Hall began to pull away after a 7-7 tie. The Pirates went on a 7-2 run to take over the momentum, and then cruised down the stretch, wrapping up the sweep with a 25-19 victory.

Although the loss was a tough one, Ganesharatnam saw it as a good way to see where the team stacks up. "We have a lot of work ahead of us," he said. "This was a good tournament to gage where we stand. It was tough to play on the road and we made a lot of uncharacteristic errors in the match today, but overall its good for our development to play in a tournament of this caliber."

Following the tournament, Temple's Irem Asci and Tyler Davis represented the Owls on the All-Tournament team.

The Owls have another tournament ahead, hosting the Hilton Penns Landing Cherry and White Challenge next weekend. Temple will welcome Binghamton, Montana, and Duquesne to McGonigle Hall for the event.

Box Score (PDF)