Volleyball Downs SMU for Fifth Straight Win

Sunday, October 22

McGonigle Hall

12:00 PM

Temple University

12-6, 8-2AAC

SMU

14-7, 8-2AAC

SMU

Temple

Photo by: Nguyen Ho

Volleyball Downs SMU for Fifth Straight Win

10.22.17 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple volleyball team took down defending conference champion SMU on Sunday, topping the Mustangs, 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 25-21, 25-12). The Owls, winners of five-straight, move into second place in The American at 8-2, with a 12-6 overall record. SMU falls to 14-7 overall, 8-2 in conference play.

KEYS TO THE MATCH
> Temple's offense rolled, with the team combining to hit .293 with 67 kills.
> The Owls' defense matches the intensity, tallying 14 blocks and out-digging SMU 69-58.
> Temple won a 26-24 first set, but SMU tied things up with a 25-23 win in set two.
> The Owls took the pivotal third frame 25-21 and then closed out the match with a huge 25-12 win in set four.
> Four Temple players tallied double-digits in kills in the match.

20TH ANNIVERSARY
> At intermission, Temple honored the 20th anniversary of its Atlantic 10 Championship team.
> The 1997 Temple squad went undefeated in conference play, earning the program's first-ever NCAA bid.
> Members of the team returning for the event included Alma Kovaci, Tamu Cooper, Lameka Keys, and Akiko Hatekeyama.

INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS
> Senior Izzy Rapacz tallied a double-double and was just two blocks shy of a triple-double, ending with 19 kills, 11 digs, and eight blocks.
> Freshman Katerina Papazoglou also went for a double-double, with 10 kills and 13 digs, adding four blocks.
> Senior Kyra Coundourides dished out 55 assists with eight digs and four kills.
> Redshirt freshman Dana Westfield tallied 17 kills, hitting .371.
> Junior Iva Deak had 11 kills with four blocks.
> Senior Janine Simmons led all players with nine blocks, while adding four kills.
> Junior Mia Heirakuji finished with a match-best 23 digs, adding five assists.
> Freshman Averi Salvador rounded out the defense with nine digs.

SET ONE: Temple 26, SMU 24
> Six ties and four lead changes was the story, but in the end, Temple took set one.
> Temple led 5-1 early in the action, but SMU cut it to 10-7.
> The Owls pushed forward with a 7-3 run to go up 17-10.
> An 11-2 SMU run then put the Mustangs on top, 21-19.
> The lead changed hands three more times before SMU had set point at 24-23.
> Temple then scored three-straight to close out the set on kills from Papazoglou, Deak, and Rapacz.

SET TWO: SMU 25, Temple 23
> Temple again had an early lead in the set, going up 13-9 on a Deak winner.
> The Owls pushed their lead to 19-14 before SMU put together another run.
> The surge saw the Mustangs take 10 of the next 12 points to go up 24-21.
> Temple was able to spoil a pair of set points, but SMU got a Brittany Adams kill to take it 25-23.

SET THREE: Temple 25, SMU 21
> With SMU ahead 4-3 early in the third, Temple went on an 8-1 run to go up 11-5.
> SMU battled back to make it a two-point set at 18-16.
> Temple created some breathing room with three-straight to go up 21-16.
> SMU would get as close as 24-21 before Temple got a Papazoglou kill to go up 2-1 in the match.

SET FOUR: Temple 25, SMU 12
> Set three was close until Temple took control of an 8-7 set.
> The Owls put together a stunning 15-2 run that put the match out of reach.
> SMU spoiled two set points for the Owls, but freshman Baleigh Jean-Philippe got the final swing in to give Temple a 25-12 win.
> The Owls hit .393 during the fourth, holding SMU to a -.030 attack.

UP NEXT:
> The Owls have another set of home games next weekend.
> Temple hosts Houston on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Tulane on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.