Late Rally Stalls for Volleyball Against SMU

Wednesday, November 23

McGonigle Hall

1:00 p.m.

Temple University

21-8, 14-5

SMU

24-7, 17-2

SMU

Temple

Photo by: Betsy Manning/Temple University

Late Rally Stalls for Volleyball Against SMU

11.23.16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA -- Temple volleyball rallied for a 9-1 run to win the third set, but ultimately fell 28-26 in the fourth and 3-1 (25-22, 25, 22-25, 28-26) in the match to visiting SMU, who clinched at least a share of the American Athletic Conference title for the second-straight season. The Owls fell to 21-8 overall, 14-5 in conference play, while the Mustangs improve to 24-7 overall, 17-2 in The American.

SMU hit .343 in the match, holding Temple to a .264 attack, while out-blocking the Owls, 9-3. Temple did out-dig SMU, 57-50, but it wasn't enough as SMU hit .333 or better in three of four sets to earn the win.

Three Temple players recorded double-doubles in the loss, led by a 16-kill, 11-dig performance from junior Izzy Rapacz. Rapacz made just two errors on 23 swings to hit .609 in the match. Junior Irem Asci added 14 kills and 10 digs, while classmate Kyra Coundourides tallied 49 assists and 10 digs, to go along with a pair of aces. Senior Kirsten Overton had eight kills and a team-best three blocks, while junior Janine Simmons had six kills and sophomore Iva Deak added four. Defensively, junior Dara Peric led all players with 15 digs.

Tied at 9-9 in the first set, SMU used an extended 8-1 run to break open the tight set and take a 17-10 advantage. Temple rallied from the seven-point deficit to cut it to two on three occasions, including as late as 24-22. SMU, however, hit .381 in the set and got the frame-winner on a kill from Kristen Stehling, making it 25-22.

Set two was all SMU as the Mustangs hit .400 to Temple's .200. Trailing 20-11, Temple did rally for a 6-2 run, but it wasn't enough, as SMU won it 25-17, taking a 2-0 lead into the break.

SMU again held a big lead in the third set, looking for the sweep. The Mustangs opened with a 10-4 advantage and led 21-16 late in the frame. From there, Temple put together a 9-1 run to close the set with a 25-22 win, to force a fourth. During the Temple stretch, Davis served for four points, while Overton was on the line for three, ending it on an ace to make it 2-1 in the match.

Set four was the closest of the day, featuring 15 ties and six lead changes. The Owls had the edge first, going up 12-9 and 13-10, before SMU battled back to make it 14-14. Neither team went up by more than two points the rest of the way, as the frame settled on ties of 22-22, 23-23, 24-24, 25-25, and 26-26, before SMU finally got two in a row, to take it 28-26. The teams saw three set points spoiled during the last run, which ended with back-to-back SMU kills for the 3-1 Mustang victory.

Temple returns to action on Friday, hosting Senior Day at 1:00 p.m., as the Owls take on Tulsa.

Box Score (PDF)