Another Tight Match Falls Against Volleyball

Friday, October 12

Orlando, Fla.

7:00 PM

Temple University

4-14, 1-5

UCF

15-3, 6-0

TEM

UCF

Photo by: Nguyen Ho

Another Tight Match Falls Against Volleyball

10.12.18 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Temple volleyball team suffered yet another close loss, as the Owls fell to league-leading UCF on the road on Friday night. The Knights won with set scores of 25-23, 26-24, 21-25, 25-17 to improve to 14-3 overall, 5-0 in conference play. Temple falls to 4-14, 1-5 in the American.

Keys to the Match
> The first two sets could have gone either way, as both were decided by just two points each. Temple rallied for a third set win, but UCF closed it out int the fourth.
> Temple out-dug the Knights, but UCF had a 13-5 advantage in blocks.
> The hosts' blocking prowess limited Temple to just a .178 attack, as UCF hit .266.

Quotable: Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam
> "In the first two sets, it came down to us just needing one more kill. I thought we played a good match, the intensity was there and we did well with game management. Our serve-receive was really good and the defense did well, we had some great scrappy hustle plays."
> "The longer the match went on, we found better solutions against their block, which ended up being one of the biggest differences."
> "It's frustrating, but we have no choice but to keep going. The good news is that if we keep our intensity and our mental focus where it was today, I know we're going to be successful sooner rather than later."
> "This UCF teams is one of the best I've seen from them, they just don't make a lot of mistakes, and it's not just one player carrying the team."

Individual Highlights
> Graduate student Irem Asci, sophomore Katerina Papazoglou, and freshman Tyler Lindgren all tallied double-doubles for Temple. Asci finished with 18 kills and 16 digs, while Papazoglou had 12 kills and a career-best 22 digs. Lindgren dished out 28 assists with 11 digs.
> Graduate student Iva Deak had 12 kills with a team-high three blocks, while junior Dana Westfield put up nine kills.
> Senior Hannah Vandegrift tallied 21 assists with three kills.
> Sophomore Averi Salvador notched 17 digs, while senior Mia Heirakuji had 15 to wrap up the box score.

Set One: UCF 26, Temple 24
> UCF needed extra points to make a comeback in the first set, hitting .212 to Temple's .133.
> The Owls had an early 10-6 lead, but UCF scored six-straight to go up 12-12.
> This time, Temple battled back, using a 6-3 surge to take an 18-15 lead.
> Later tied 22-22, Temple had set point spoiled by UCF, as the Knights went on a 4-2 run to close set one.

Set Two: UCF 25, Temple 23
> A 5-1 start by Temple was erased by a 10-1 UCF run, as the Knights led 11-6.
> The Owls rallied, using a 9-4 surge to go up, 17-15.
> The match was tied three more times before settling at 21-21.
> UCF crept ahead 24-22, and then finished it out 25-23 to go up, 2-0.

Set Three: Temple 25, UCF 21
> Set three opened with 12 ties in the first 24 points.
> Temple grabbed some momentum as Asci and Westfield gave the Owls a 16-13 lead.
> UCF cut the lead to one point as late as 19-18, but Temple scored six of the final nine points to stay alive with a 25-21 win.

Set Four: UCF 25, Temple 17
> Temple kept it close early on, but UCF pulled away down the stretch to finish out the win.
> An 11-9 UCF advantage ballooned into a 22-14 lead, as the Knights put together an 11-5 run.
> Temple closed the gap to 22-16, but it was too late as UCF locked up the win.

Up Next:
> Temple heads south to USF for a Sunday match, as the Owls take on the Bulls at 12:00 p.m.