League Leading Cincinnati Tops Temple Volleyball

Sunday, October 13

Philadelphia, Pa.

1:00 PM

Temple University

Cincinnati

Photo by: Nguyen Ho

League Leading Cincinnati Tops Temple Volleyball

10.13.19 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA -- American Athletic Conference leading Cincinnati topped the Temple volleyball team, 3-0, on Sunday afternoon at McGonigle Hall. The Bearcats picked up a 25-17, 25-16, 25-12 win over the Owls to move to 14-4 overall, 6-0 in conference play. Temple falls to 10-7, 1-5 in the American.

Keys to the Match
> Temple couldn't get things going on offense against a well-rounded Cincinnati team, led by NCAA kills leader and two-time All-American, Jordan Thompson.
> The Bearcats out-hit Temple .301 to .116, while holding a 59-38 advantage in digs.
> Cincinnati scored early and often in the first part of the first set, jumping out to a large lead from the get-go. Temple rallied towards the end of the frame, but the Bearcats quickly went up, 1-0.
> Cincinnati and Temple went back-and-forth to start the second, with the Bearcats taking over midway through the action. Up 15-12, they closed the set on a 10-4 run to go up, 2-0.
> Temple had the lead to start the third frame, taking a 7-2 advantage early. Cincinnati responded with a 9-1 run to take over the momentum, eventually closing out the 25-12 set.

Quotable: Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam
> "We have to give Cincinnati credit, they played really well today. Obviously Jordan Thompson is clearly the best player in our conference, but we wouldn't do Cincinnati any justice by minimizing this team to just one player. I think overall, they're playing really well as a team."
> "We certainly didn't perform at the level that we wanted to today. I wish I would have seen us control the ball a little better on our side and also competing a little harder."
> "Everybody is fighting for the same thing in our conference. We're going to have to fight for it and not give up. Overall, even though today was a tough day for us, the weekend was really good for us. We saw some good things, especially on Friday, so we have to move on from this match, adjust some things, and look forward."

Individual Highlights
> Freshman Naomi Janetzke and sophomores Gem Grimshaw and Miray Bolukbasi tied for the team lead in kills with five.
> Junior Averi Salvador finished with with a team-high 12 digs to go along with seven assists.
> Sophomore Tyler Lindgren tallied 13 assists, while junior Selina Merfol added seven assists and six digs.

Set One: Cincinnati 25, Temple 17
> Cincinnati set the tone early in the first set, using a string of eight unanswered points to create separation at 11-3.
> Trailing 18-11, the Owls got a few points back at the end of the frame, but Cincinnati finished out the win.

Set Two: Cincinnati 25, Temple 16
> Temple had a quick 3-1 lead erased, but stayed within three points of Cincinnati much of the way.
> Leading 15-12, the Bearcats used a 7-2 run to grab control.
> Temple got back-to-back points late, but Cincinnati went up 2-0 with a 25-16 win.

Set Three: Cincinnati 25, Temple 12
> It was Temple with the hot start in the third set, going up 7-2 early in the frame.
> Cincinnati quickly responded, using a 6-1 run to tie things at 8-8.
> Temple temporarily stopped the Bearcats run with a Gem Grimshaw kill, but Cincinnati rolled down the stretch, finishing out the 25-12 and 3-0 win.

Up Next
> Temple hits the road to take on SMU and Memphis next week.