Temple University Athletics
Three from #TUVB Earn Pre-Season Honors; Owls Picked to Finish Second
8.15.16 | Women's Volleyball
PHILADELPHIA -- Three Temple volleyball players earned American Athletic Conference pre-season honors, while the Owls were picked to finish second in a vote of the leagues' coaches. Temple's three selections -- senior Kirsten Overton, and juniors Irem Asci and Izzy Rapacz, were the most for any American squad.Â
Temple earned two first-place votes in the coaches' poll, and finished in second place in the final tally with 88 points. The Owls ended last season in second place with a 15-5 conference mark and a 24-8 overall record and return three of their four All-Conference selections from 2015.Â
Overton is a two-time regular-season All-Conference honoree, earning a first team nod in 2015. From the middle, she led the Owls and the conference in hitting with a .402 attack, with that number ranking her 22nd among all Division I players. For the season, Overton racked up 285 total kills and a team-best 100 blocks. One of two Temple players to garner American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors, she hit .400 or better in 16 matches last season.
Asci earned her first All-Conference selection with the Owls in 2015. A key player on both offense and defense, she recorded a team-best 3.68 kills per set, was second on the team with 2.55 digs per set, and finished third with 25 total aces. Asci racked up nine double-doubles on the year, recording at least 15 kills in 10 different matches for the Owls. She had 20-kill performances in four different matches, including a 24-kill, 21-dig stat line in Temple's 3-2 win over conference champion, SMU.
Rapacz earned her first All-Conference nod in 2015. A right side hitter, she racked up 2.62 kills per set and 76 total blocks. Rapacz had 10 or more kills in 16 matches last year, also tallying five or more blocks in a match on four different occasions. An accurate attacker, her .264 hitting percentage led all of Temple's pin hitters last season.
The Owls also boast a pair of returning 2014 All-Conference selections in junior Dara Peric and senior Tyler Davis. Peric, the conference Freshman of the Year in 2014, moved to the back row for 2015, accounting for 2.21 digs per set and 58 total kills. Davis finished second on the team with 2.83 kills per set and also tallied 33 total blocks last year.
Cincinnati, who finished third in the American Athletic Conference last season, was selected as the preseason favorite in the poll. Cincinnati sophomore Jordan Thompson, who was the 2015 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, was tabbed as The American Preseason Player of the Year. The Bearcats received seven first-place votes from the conference's 11 head coaches and totaled 96 points in the balloting.Â
Defending champions SMU finished in third place, also earning two first-place votes but finishing with 86 points. The Mustangs ended last season with a 27-6 overall record and 17-3 in conference play. SMU returns two players from last year's All-Conference team but lost Player of the Year and Setter of the Year, Avery Acker.
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UCF, who finished last season with a 9-11 conference record, was picked fourth with 73 points. UConn (54 points) and Houston (52 points) followed in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Tulsa brought in 48 points for seventh place, with Tulane taking the eighth spot with 36 points. USF (34 points) and Memphis (29 points) finished in ninth and 10th and East Carolina (11 points) rounded out the preseason poll in 11th.
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Thompson was a First-Team All-Conference performer for the Bearcats in 2015. The sophomore outside hitter led the Bearcats in kills (459) and kills per set (3.92) last season. Those numbers were also good enough for third and fourth in the conference. Thompson tallied double-digit kills in 26 matches with a career-high 27 kills in a five set match against Tulsa on Oct. 25. Thompson also finished the year with two double-doubles.
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Fourteen student-athletes were selected to the 2016 Preseason All-Conference Team. UCF's Jale Hervey, Cincinnati's Thompson, Houston's Brookah Palmer, SMU's Morgan Heise and Janelle Giordano, Temple's Irem Asci and Kirsten Overton, and Tulsa's Erica Bohannon were all unanimous selections to the Preseason All-Conference Team. Temple had three players named to the team while both Cincinnati and SMU each had two players voted on to the squad.
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The 2016 season will start on Friday, Aug. 26, Temple. Conference play begins on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Â
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2016 American Athletic Conference Volleyball Preseason Honors
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Preseason Coaches' Poll
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Preseason Player of the Year:
Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati
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Preseason Team:
Kia Bright, UCF
Jale Hervey, UCF*
Carly Nolan, Cincinnati
Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati*
Jade Strawberry, UConn
Brookah Palmer, Houston*
Dakota Hampton, USF
Janelle Giordano, SMU*
Morgan Heise, SMU*
Irem Asci, Temple*
Kirsten Overton, Temple*
Izzy Rapacz, Temple
Tea Juric, Tulane
Erica Bohannon, Tulsa*
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[*] Denotes unanimous selection
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Temple earned two first-place votes in the coaches' poll, and finished in second place in the final tally with 88 points. The Owls ended last season in second place with a 15-5 conference mark and a 24-8 overall record and return three of their four All-Conference selections from 2015.Â
Overton is a two-time regular-season All-Conference honoree, earning a first team nod in 2015. From the middle, she led the Owls and the conference in hitting with a .402 attack, with that number ranking her 22nd among all Division I players. For the season, Overton racked up 285 total kills and a team-best 100 blocks. One of two Temple players to garner American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors, she hit .400 or better in 16 matches last season.
Asci earned her first All-Conference selection with the Owls in 2015. A key player on both offense and defense, she recorded a team-best 3.68 kills per set, was second on the team with 2.55 digs per set, and finished third with 25 total aces. Asci racked up nine double-doubles on the year, recording at least 15 kills in 10 different matches for the Owls. She had 20-kill performances in four different matches, including a 24-kill, 21-dig stat line in Temple's 3-2 win over conference champion, SMU.
Rapacz earned her first All-Conference nod in 2015. A right side hitter, she racked up 2.62 kills per set and 76 total blocks. Rapacz had 10 or more kills in 16 matches last year, also tallying five or more blocks in a match on four different occasions. An accurate attacker, her .264 hitting percentage led all of Temple's pin hitters last season.
The Owls also boast a pair of returning 2014 All-Conference selections in junior Dara Peric and senior Tyler Davis. Peric, the conference Freshman of the Year in 2014, moved to the back row for 2015, accounting for 2.21 digs per set and 58 total kills. Davis finished second on the team with 2.83 kills per set and also tallied 33 total blocks last year.
Cincinnati, who finished third in the American Athletic Conference last season, was selected as the preseason favorite in the poll. Cincinnati sophomore Jordan Thompson, who was the 2015 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, was tabbed as The American Preseason Player of the Year. The Bearcats received seven first-place votes from the conference's 11 head coaches and totaled 96 points in the balloting.Â
Defending champions SMU finished in third place, also earning two first-place votes but finishing with 86 points. The Mustangs ended last season with a 27-6 overall record and 17-3 in conference play. SMU returns two players from last year's All-Conference team but lost Player of the Year and Setter of the Year, Avery Acker.
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UCF, who finished last season with a 9-11 conference record, was picked fourth with 73 points. UConn (54 points) and Houston (52 points) followed in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Tulsa brought in 48 points for seventh place, with Tulane taking the eighth spot with 36 points. USF (34 points) and Memphis (29 points) finished in ninth and 10th and East Carolina (11 points) rounded out the preseason poll in 11th.
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Thompson was a First-Team All-Conference performer for the Bearcats in 2015. The sophomore outside hitter led the Bearcats in kills (459) and kills per set (3.92) last season. Those numbers were also good enough for third and fourth in the conference. Thompson tallied double-digit kills in 26 matches with a career-high 27 kills in a five set match against Tulsa on Oct. 25. Thompson also finished the year with two double-doubles.
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Fourteen student-athletes were selected to the 2016 Preseason All-Conference Team. UCF's Jale Hervey, Cincinnati's Thompson, Houston's Brookah Palmer, SMU's Morgan Heise and Janelle Giordano, Temple's Irem Asci and Kirsten Overton, and Tulsa's Erica Bohannon were all unanimous selections to the Preseason All-Conference Team. Temple had three players named to the team while both Cincinnati and SMU each had two players voted on to the squad.
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The 2016 season will start on Friday, Aug. 26, Temple. Conference play begins on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Â
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2016 American Athletic Conference Volleyball Preseason Honors
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Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Place | School | Points | 1st Place Votes |
| 1. | Cincinnati | 96 | 7 |
| 2. | Temple | 88 | 2 |
| 3. | SMU | 84 | 2 |
| 4. | UCF | 73 | |
| 5. | UConn | 54 | |
| 6. | Houston | 52 | |
| 7. | Tulsa | 48 | |
| 8. | Tulane | 36 | |
| 9. | USF | 34 | |
| 10. | Memphis | 29 | |
| 11. | East Carolina | 11 |
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Preseason Player of the Year:
Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati
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Preseason Team:
Kia Bright, UCF
Jale Hervey, UCF*
Carly Nolan, Cincinnati
Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati*
Jade Strawberry, UConn
Brookah Palmer, Houston*
Dakota Hampton, USF
Janelle Giordano, SMU*
Morgan Heise, SMU*
Irem Asci, Temple*
Kirsten Overton, Temple*
Izzy Rapacz, Temple
Tea Juric, Tulane
Erica Bohannon, Tulsa*
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[*] Denotes unanimous selection
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Players Mentioned
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