Volleyball Sweeps Villanova to Open Big 5 Tournament

Friday, September 16

(at Penn)

4:30 p.m.

Temple University

5-3

Villanova University

7-4

Temple

Villanova

Volleyball Sweeps Villanova to Open Big 5 Tournament

9.16.16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple volleyball team opened the 2016 Philadelphia Big 5 Tournament with a 3-0 sweep over defending champion, Villanova at the Palestra on Friday afternoon. The Owls grabbed the win with set scores of 25-18, 27-25, and 26-24 to move to 5-3 on the season. Villanova, a 2015 NCAA Tournament team, falls to 5-3.

Temple hit over .300 in the first two sets, finishing with a .229 attack. The Owls held Villanova to just .176 on offense, also out-digging and out-blocking the Wildcats.

Junior Irem Asci led the Owls with 14 kills and 10 digs, while seniors Kirsten Overton and Tyler Davis each tallied seven kills and just one error. Overton finished with a .429 attack and added four blocks, while Davis hit .316 with two blocks. Sophomore Iva Deak had six kills without an error, hitting .545 with a team-best six blocks. Junior Kyra Coundourides notched 37 assists and seven digs, while sophomore Mia Heirakuji had a team-best 12 digs.

Temple opened up a 7-1 lead in the first set and did not trail, hitting .333. Villanova closed the early gap to make it 8-7, but the Owls used a 4-1 run to take a 12-8 lead on a Davis kill. The Wildcats cut the Temple lead to two points on two more occassions, but the Owls closed out the set on a 6-1 run, sealing the victory on an Asci kill.

Villanova led early in set two, going up 6-4, before back-to-back Temple blocks tied things at 6-6. From there, the Wildcats surged again, this time taking a 15-12 advantage. Temple again battled back, scoring five-straight points to go up 17-15. After that, the lead changed hands three more times, including ties at 22, 24, and 25. Tied at 25-25, Temple got kills from Davis and Asci to close out the set with a 27-25 win.

The Owls fended off an early Villanova lead in the third set, to open a 10-6 advantage on a block from Coundourides and Deak. The Wildcats responded by closing the Owl advantage to just one point, staying within one point most of the final part of the set. Finally, tied at 24-24, Temple earned the sweep with a Rapacz kill and an Asci ace, making it a 26-24 final.

Temple returns to action tomorrow at La Salle, continuing the Big 5 Tournament with the Explorers at 11:00 a.m. and Penn at 5:00 p.m.

Box Score (PDF)