Volleyball Drops 3-2 Nailbiter to Houston

Sunday, October 6

Philadelphia, Pa.

1:00 PM

Temple University

9-6, 0-4AAC

Houston

10-9, 4-0AAC

Houston

Temple

Photo by: Zamani Feelings

Volleyball Drops 3-2 Nailbiter to Houston

10.6.19 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA — The Temple volleyball team climbed back from an 0-2 deficit to force a fifth set, but ultimately came up just short, as the visiting Houston Cougars won a 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 11-25, 15-12) nail biter at McGonigle Hall. Houston improved to 4-0 in conference play, 10-9 overall, while the Owls dip to 9-6, 0-4 in the American.

Keys to the Match
> The visitors took a pair of close sets to jump out to a 2-0 lead.
> Temple fought back to make it 2-1, using a late run in the third set to come out on top, 25-23.
> The Owls' momentum continued into the fourth set, where the team hit a massive .524, en route to a 25-11 lopsided win, which tied the match at 2-2.
> In the deciding fifth set, Temple stayed close with Houston, but the Cougars got timely hitting when they needed to, taking the frame 15-12, and the match, 3-2.
> The Owls out-hit the Cougars, .274 to .213, while holding an 11-4 advantage in blocks. Houston had the narrowest of advantages in digs (78-77), while Temple suffered from 11 service errors.

Quotable: Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam
> "One of the things we want to see is progression. I thought we played pretty well the first two sets, there were one or two points in each that if they went our way, we could have gotten one of those sets."
> "I have to give the team credit for not giving up and showing good morale, because they could have been devastated after the first two sets — fighting hard, playing pretty well, and not having anything to show for it. They really made a decision as a team not to give up, to keep playing and keep fighting and not to give up. I really am proud of them and they did a great job coming back and getting consistent, especially in the fourth set."
> "In the fifth set, the first two or three points, we played some good ball, but Houston did a tremendous job picking up some of those balls."
> "Overall, I'm very proud for the fight and the morale we showed, and believing in what we're doing. Everyone is on board and working hard and that's not an easy thing to do in the situation we're in."

Individual Highlights
> Junior Katerina Papazoglou tallied her second-straight double-double with 20 kills and 11 digs.
> Freshman Naomi Janetzke recorded her first career double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs to go along with five blocks, notching career highs in all three categories.
> Sophomore Tyler Lindgren also had a career day, notching a double-double with a college best 55 assists, adding 11 digs, and three blocks, including one solo.
> Sophomore Miray Bolukbasi tallied 10 kills with seven digs, while junior Baleigh Jean-Philippe had five kills, hitting .556 with five blocks.
> Junior Averi Salvador topped Temple's defense with 24 digs.
> Freshman Kayla Spells finished with six kills and five blocks, while classmate Nikki Saito notched three aces.

Set One: Houston 25, Temple 22
> Houston broke a 4-4 tie with five straight points, going up 9-4 early.
> Temple battled back to within two at 13-11, before Houston ran it back to a five point edge at 20-15.
> The Owls closed to within 24-22, but Houston got a kill on the next point to go up, 1-0.

Set Two: Houston 25, Temple 21
> An early 7-0 run had the Owls up 12-6 before Houston began to chip away.
> The Cougars cut the lead to 17-15, and though Temple got the next point, Houston continued the surge, scoring five straight to take a 20-18 lead.
> Temple cut it to 22-21, but three more Houston points finished the set, putting them up 2-0.

Set Three: Temple 25, Houston 23
> Another tight set in the third saw Houston with a narrow lead midway through the action.
> After the Cougars took their largest lead at 16-10, Temple began its comeback.
> A 9-1 Owls' run gave Temple the advantage at 19-17, backed by hot serving from Saito.
> Houston tied it at 20-20, and then cut it to 24-23, but Temple got a Janetzke kill to end it, forcing a fourth set.

Set Four: Temple 25, Houston 11
> The Owls' offense was firing on all cylinders in the fourth, as Temple hit .524.
> It was all Cherry and White in the frame, as the Owls opened an early 12-4 advantage.
> Temple did not allow the Cougars to score more than two in a row at any point during the set, as the Owls tied the match at 2-2 with a 25-11 win.

Set Five: Houston 15, Temple 12
> Temple scored the first point of the deciding frame, but Houston scored three unanswered to go up 3-1.
> The Owls stayed within striking distance, but got a pair of untimely service errors to quash hopes of tying the score.
> Temple cut it to 14-12 on a block from Jean-Philippe and Bolukbasi, but Houston finished it out with a kill to take the set and match.

Up Next
> Temple stays at home next weekend, hosting ECU on Friday and Cincinnati on Sunday.