Volleyball Hangs Tough with #6 Penn State

Friday, August 31

State College, Pa.

7:30 p.m.

Temple University

1-3

Penn State

4-0

Temple

Penn State

Volleyball Hangs Tough with #6 Penn State

8.31.18 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA — The Temple volleyball team had No. 6 Penn State on the brink of its first set loss of the season several times tonight, but ultimately fell to the Nittany Lions, 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-22), on the road in front of a loud crowd.

Quotable: Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam
> "Overall it was a really positive match for us, I thought our block worked really hard, I don't think we missed many assignments, our defense was really strong as well. Even our serve receive, minus a few rotations, was good."
> "Penn State did a really great job of finishing out the sets. I don't know if it was lack of experience for our young team, or just Penn State's championship mentality, but in time that will come for us."
> "There was a lot to be proud of tonight, we did a great job coming together as a team playing in a great environment. I think if we play as well as we did tonight we will have two good matches tomorrow."

Keys to the Match
> Temple was in every set, holding late leads in the second and third, before final runs by Penn State sealed the sweep for the hosts.
> Temple shined on defense and its block, to hang tough with the national power house.
> Most team stats were even on the night, but the Penn State offense out-hit Temple, .260 to .143, to provide for the difference in final set scores.

Individual Highlights
> Junior Dana Westfield lead the Owls with 10 kills adding three blocks and four digs on the night.
> Graduate student Iva Deak tallied seven kills with a team-best five blocks.
> Freshman Peyton Boyd had four kills on nine swings to help the attack.
> Rookie Tyler Lindgren racked up 18 assists, while senior Hannah Vandegrift added 10. Both had four digs on the night.
> Senior Mia Heirakuji led Temple with 13 digs and three aces, while sophomore Katerina Papazoglou had nine digs.

Set One: Penn State 25, Temple 19
> A back and forth first set did not have either team take control until late.
> Penn State went up by three midway through action, but Temple battled back to tie things at 18-18.
> The Nittany Lions were then able to close out the frame, going on a 7–1 run to take a one nothing lead in the match.

Set Two: Penn State 25, Temple 22
> Penn State started set two strong, going up 6-2 early.
> Temple put together a great run, backed by strong hitting from Westfield and a big block, to take the lead 16-13, forcing a Nittany Lions time out.
> Temple led as late as 20-18, but Penn State used a 7-2 run to win the set and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set Three: Penn State 25, Temple 22
> Temple had the hot start in the third set, leading 8-4 early.
> Penn State tied the match at 13, but a 6-0 run from the Owls put the cherry and white up 19-13.
> Again, the home team rallied, tying the match at 20.
> Penn State then sealed the sweep with a 5-2 closing surge, winning 25-22.

Up Next
> Temple will play a pair of matches tomorrow to close out the tournament.
> The Owls take on Texas A&M at 12 p.m. and then Indiana at 5 p.m.