UConn Rallies to Top Temple Volleyball

Friday, November 8

Storrs, Conn.

12:00 PM

Temple University

11-13, 2-11AAC

UConn

10-15, 4-9AAC

TEMPLE

UConn

Photo by: Nguyen Ho

UConn Rallies to Top Temple Volleyball

11.8.19 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

STORRS, Conn. — A strong start for the Temple volleyball team was squashed by UConn, as the Huskies rallied to win a 3-1 match in Storrs on Friday afternoon. Temple won the first set, 25-16, but UConn won the final three, 25-23, 25-13, 25-15. The loss dips Temple to 11-13, 2-11, while the Huskies improve to 10-15, 4-9.

Keys to the Match
> After holding UConn to a -.053 attack in the first set, Temple couldn't repeat that success in the final three, as the Huskies hit .290 or better in the remaining three frames.
> UConn finished with a .228 hitting percentage for the match, while the Owls hit just .126.
> Temple won the first set big and then looked to be going up 2-0 midway through the second. However, a late Huskies' rally gave UConn set two by the closest of margins, 25-23.
> From there on, it was all UConn, as the Huskies combined to hit .368 between the final two sets, finishing out the 3-1 win.

Quotable: Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam
> "We did a really good job controlling the ball on our side of the net in the first set, but as the match went on, our reception to attack numbers really dropped and our pass-serve was inconsistent."
> "UConn played much better after the first two sets and eliminated their unforced errors to make them competitive."
> "We just didn't control the ball on our side well and we needed to clean up our errors."

Individual Highlights
> Sophomore Gem Grimshaw had a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs, while classmate Peyton Boyd came close with nine kills and nine digs.
> Junior Katerina Papazoglou finished with eight kills and seven digs.
> Junior Selina Merfol dished out 23 assists with nine digs, while junior Averi Salvador tallied 12 digs and six assists.

Set One: Temple 25, UConn 16
> It was all Temple in the early going, as the Owls opened with a 6-1 advantage, and led 10-3 after a Grimshaw winner.
> UConn rallied to close the gap to 11-8 with a 5-1 surge, but Temple pushed its lead back to 15-11.
> The Owls lead dipped below five just once the rest of the way, as the Cherry and White closed the frame with a 5-1 surge.

Set Two: UConn 25, Temple 23
> Temple had the early edge in the second frame, going up 6-3.
> UConn made it a one point edge with three straight to cut it to 7-6, before the Owls answered to go up 12-7.
> The Huskies again rallied, using a 6-1 run to go up 20-19.
> The match was tied three more times, before UConn closed the frame with a 4-1 run to win it 25-23.

Set Three: UConn 25, Temple 13
> UConn started the third set hot, running the score to 8-3 early.
> Temple cut it to four points, but UConn kept rolling, lead 14-5.
> The Owls got the deficit down under seven just once the rest of the way, as UConn finished the lopsided 25-13 win.

Set Four: UConn 25, Temple 15
> UConn broke open a tight fourth set with a huge run to put away the set and the match.
> Temple trailed 8-6, but UConn struck for nine unanswered points to go up 17-6.
> The Owls got the lead down to eight at 22-14, but UConn closed out the frame 25-15.

Up Next
> The Owls will head to New Orleans to play at Tulane on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.