Comeback Bid Falls Short for Volleyball against UCF

Sunday, October 16

McGonigle Hall

1:00 p.m.

Temple University

12-6, 5-3American

UCF

16-5, 6-2American

UCF

Temple

Comeback Bid Falls Short for Volleyball against UCF

10.16.16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple volleyball team battled back from an 0-2 deficit, but ultimately came up short, as visiting UCF topped the Owls, 3-2, in Temple's "Dig Pink" match on Sunday. Set scores were 25-21, 25-13, 12-25, 19-25, 15-13, as Temple fell to 12-6, 5-3 (American), and UCF improved to 16-5, 6-2 (American).

After hitting only .054 in the first two sets combined, Temple hit .401 over the final three sets. The Owls also held UCF to a .164 attack in the final three frames, but Temple came up two points shy in the third to suffer its second-straight loss.

Junior Irem Asci racked up 22 kills with 14 digs and two blocks, while senior Tyler Davis had 14 kills with just one error, hitting .382. Senior Kirsten Overton had a fantastic game in the middle, putting down 10 kills without a blemish, hitting .476 with three blocks. Junior Izzy Rapacz notched nine kills and 11 digs, while classmate Kyra Coundourides had 32 assists, seven digs, and a match-best three aces.

Elsewhere for the Owls, sophomore Carla Guennewig had seven kills, hitting .375, while junior Janine Simmons recorded two kills and four blocks. Sophomore Hannah Vandegrift notched 23 assists with nine digs in three sets of work. Defensively, sophomore Mia Heirakuji tallied 20 digs, while junior Dara Peric had 14. Temple held a 11-4 advantage on the block, with sophomore Iva Deak adding four stuffs to the box score.

UCF broke a 15-15 tie in the first set, with a 3-1 surge to make it 19-16. Temple cut the lead to 19-18 on a kill from Rapacz and later to 20-19 on an Asci kill. However, UCF scored five of the next seven points, including the set-winner from Kia Bright to make it 25-21.

Set two saw things again tied early on as the teams were knotted at 10-10 before UCF crept forward. Temple cut the lead to 14-12 on a block from Simmons and Asci, but UCF went on an 11-1 run to close the set at 25-13, taking a 2-0 lead into the break.

The Owls were nearly unstopped in the third set, as Temple came out of the locker room on a mission. A 9-0 Temple run started the frame, and the Owls' lead grew to 12-1 on an Overton kill. UCF was never able to get back in the set, as Temple closed out the frame on a Simmons kill that made it 25-12.

Temple turned a 3-0 UCF lead into a 9-5 Owls' advantage with a 9-2 run early in the fourth. UCF cut it to two on multiple occasions, but the Owls used strong net play to open up a 23-15 lead. The Knights managed four-straight points to make it 23-19, but Temple closed things out on kills from Coundourides and Davis, taking the set 25-19 to force a fifth.

UCF opened up a 3-0 lead in the final frame and did not relinquish that advantage. Trailing 5-1, Temple battled back to cut the lead to 10-7 on a Davis and Simmons block. However, UCF surged forward with three-straight to make it 13-7. Again Temple answered. Three-straight Asci kills make it 13-10, but a UCF winner gave the Knights set and match point at 14-10. The Owls scored three-straight on kills from Guennewig and Rapacz and a service ace, but the comeback magic ended on a Temple serving error, as UCF took the set, 15-13, and the match, 3-2.

Temple is back in action on the road next weekend. The Owls will play on Friday at East Carolina, and then travel to Cincinnati on Sunday.

Box Score (PDF)