Volleyball Wins Thriller in Orlando

Friday, November 18

Orlando, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

20-7, 13-4AAC

UCF

21-9, 11-6AAC

Temple

UCF

Photo by: Betsy Manning/Temple University

Volleyball Wins Thriller in Orlando

11.18.16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

ORLANDO -- The Temple volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit on the road at UCF, topping the Knights, 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-13) on their home court. The Owls reach the 20-win mark for the third-straight season under head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam, moving to 20-7 overall, 13-4 in conference play. UCF dips to 21-9, 11-6 in The American.

Temple got a double-double of 21 kills and 14 digs from junior Irem Asci, while classmate Kyra Coundourides also recorded a double-double with 44 assists and 12 digs. Senior Tyler Davis notched 14 kills with just one error, while junior Izzy Rapacz added 12 kills and seven digs. Sophomore Iva Deak notched seven kills, Kirsten Overton tallied six, and sophomore Carla Guennewig added five to aid the attack.

Defensively, junior Dara Peric led the way with 17 digs, while sophomore Mia Heirakuji added 16. Overton tallied eight total blocks, while Rapacz added seven in the winning effort.

The Owls broke a 6-6 tie in the first set with five-straight points, including a pair of winners to make it 11-6 Temple. UCF answered with a 5-0 run of its own, but a serve error kept the Owls on top, 12-11. UCF tied the match at 14-14 but again, the Owls didn't relinquish the advantage. Temple pushed ahead to a 19-16 advantage on a Rapacz kill and led 24-21 on a winner from Asci. After UCF spoiled one set point to cut it to 24-22, but on the next point Temple's somehow corralled a ball that was heading for the net, and Overton found a hole on the other side for the final kill.

UCF started the second set with a 6-2 lead before Temple got a pair back to make it 6-4. UCF, however, continued the run, adding four-straight to make it a 10-4 advantage. The Knights' lead grew to seven at 15-8 before four-straight from the Owls, including kills from Asci, Deak, and Davis made it 15-12. UCF pushed the advantage back up to four points, but Temple rallied to cut it to one on three occasions, including as late as 21-20. The Knights ultimately held off the Temple charge, however, ending the set on a 4-1 run, taking it 25-21 to knot the match at 1-1.

UCF started strong in the third set, taking leads of 8-4 and and 12-8. Temple rallied to take the lead with a 5-0 run, going up 13-12, but UCF answered with a 7-1 run, making it 19-14 Knights. Three Owl blocks then sparked a 6-1 Temple run that saw the match tied 20-20. From there, however, UCF ended things on a 5-1 surge, taking the set 25-21, leading the match, 2-1.

UCF had the early edge in set four before a 7-3 run put Temple ahead 12-11. The tight match saw the teams trade sideouts until three-straight points from Temple, including back-to-back Overton/Rapacz blocks made it 17-15 Owls. UCF tied the match at 20-20 before four-straight points from Temple made it 24-20. The Knights rallied to make it 24-22, but Deak came off the bench with a big swing to put the set away, 25-22, as the Owls tied the match at 2-2.

Temple opened with a 5-2 advantage in set three, before UCF rallied with three-straight to tie things at 5-5. Though the match stayed within two points the rest of the way, the Owls did not allow the Knights to take over the advantage. Temple got a key block down the stretch from Overton and Davis and Asci put the final kill down to make it a 15-13

Box Score (PDF)