Volleyball Sweeps Tulsa for Fourth-Straight Win

Friday, October 7

Tulsa, Okla.

1:00 p.m.

Temple University

11-4 (4-1AAC)

Tulsa

13-4 (2-3AAC)

Temple

Tulsa

Volleyball Sweeps Tulsa for Fourth-Straight Win

10.7.16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. -- The Temple volleyball team swept Tulsa, 3-0, on the road on Friday afternoon, winning the noon showdown, 25-21, 25-20, 25-22. The four-straight win for the Owls moves the team to 11-4 overall, 4-1 in The American. The Hurricane fall to 13-4 overall, 2-3 in conference play.

Temple hit .270 or better in all three sets, en route to a .294 team attack. The Owls pulled away towards the middle of three close sets, and in the end, surged when it counted.

The Owls got production from all over the court, with junior Irem Asci notching 14 kills and eight digs, and senior Tyler Davis contributing 10 kills, hitting .429. From the middle, sophomore Iva Deak and senior Kirsten Overton were both error-less on the day, as Deak had eight kills, hitting .533 with four blocks, and Overton had six kills, hitting .429 with three blocks. Junior Izzy Rapacz added five kills and 15 digs with four blocks, while senior Kyra Coundourides ran the efficient offense with 35 assists. Sophomore Mia Heirakuji led the defense with a team-best 18 digs.

Temple led 8-5 to start the first set, before Tulsa battled back to make it a one-point match at 12-11. The Owls surged with kills from Deak and Coundourides to go up 15-11 and then used another run to take a 20-15 lead on a Rapacz winner. Tulsa battled back to within three at 21-18, and then spoiled a set point, but the Hurricane recorded a service error at 24-21 to give Temple the 25-21 victory.

It was Tulsa with the early lead in the second set, as the hosts jumped out to a 7-3 advantage. The Owls used a 6-1 run to take over the lead, albeit slim, at 9-8, before the frame was tied three times until it was 14-14. Temple used strong play at the net to record four blocks on a 9-4 surge, which put the Owls ahead, 23-18. Tulsa surged to cut the Owl lead to 24-21, but Temple took set two on an Asci kill, going up 2-0 in the match.

Needing to win in the third set to stay alive in the match, Tulsa again had an early lead but again it was erased by the Owls. After trailing 6-3, Temple battled back to tie the match at 11-11 as Asci notched a pair of aces and Rapacz hammered two winners. From there, the set was tied five more times until Temple took a slim 20-18 lead on a pair of Deak kills. After Tulsa took its final timeout of the set, the Owls surged ahead, 23-19, but the Hurricane answered back with three-straight points to make it 23-22. Temple benefitted from a Tulsa service error that gave the Owls match point, and Overton put one to the floor for the set and match winner on the next serve.

The Owls are back in action on Sunday at SMU, battling the Mustangs at 1:00 p.m.

Box Score (PDF)