Volleyball Hosts Hilton Philadelphia at Penn's Landing Cherry & White Challenge this Weekend

PHILADELPHIA -- The 6-0 Temple volleyball team opens its home slate this weeked with the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn's Landing Cherry & White Challenge. The McGonigle Hall event features Radford, Columbia, and Lehigh.

SCHEDULE
Friday:
4:00 p.m. - Columbia vs. Lehigh
6:30 p.m. - Temple vs. Radford
Saturday:
11:00 a.m. - Temple vs. Columbia
1:30 p.m. - Radford vs. Lehigh
4:00 p.m. - Columbia vs. Radford
7:00 p.m. - Temple vs. Lehigh

PROMOTIONS
> CHERRY OUT: The first 200 Temple fans to arrive to Friday's match against Radford will receive a cherry t-shirt, courtesy of AFK Group.
> STUDENT FOOTBALL TICKET: Students can pick up their tickets to Saturday's football game against #21 Maryland at Friday's match.
> INTERNATIONAL STUDENT NIGHT: Saturday's match at 7:00 p.m. against Lehigh is International Student's Night. All international students on campus are welcome, and food will be provided.

OWL ABOUT TEMPLE
> Temple enters the Cherry & White Challenge sporting a 6-0 record to start the season. It's the best start for the Owls since the 2014 season.
> Last weekend, Temple won the American University Volleyball Classic, defeating Ohio (3-2), Winthrop, and American.
> Junior Averi Salvador was named the tournament MVP, averaging 5.27 digs per set, while also recording her first career double-double against Winthrop.
> Sophomores Gem Grimshaw and Tyler Lindgren were also named to the All-Tournament team at American.
> On the season, Grimshaw leads Temple's offense with 4.10 kills per set, while Katerina Papazoglou adds 2.72 kills and 3.17 digs per frame.
> Lindgren runs the Temple offense to the tune of 9.20 assists per set, while also adding 3.00 digs per frame.
> Freshman Kayla Spells tops the team at the net with 1.20 blocks per frame, while Baleigh Jean-Philippe adds 0.95 per set.
> Salvador leads all Temple players with 5.50 digs per set, which ranks her second in the American.
> As a team, Temple hits a conference best .270, holding opponents to a .133 attack this season.

SCOUTING RADFORD
> Radford enters the weekend with a 3-3 overall record. The Highlanders are coming off a 1-2 weekend at their home tournament, where they topped Fordham (3-1), but fell to Toledo (3-2) and Rider (3-0).
> Stephanie Neast leads the Radford offense with 2.91 kills per set, while Mallory McKnight averages 2.09 per frame.
> Defensively, Taylor O'Neal and Grace Green lead the Highlanders with 3.14 digs per set.
> Mackenzie Meehan (1.14 blocks/set) and McKnight (1.09 blocks/set) round out the net play for Radford.
> Radford hits .143 as a team, with opponents hitting .170 against them.
> Temple is 3-0 all-time against Radford, with the last meeting coming in 2013. The Owls won that 3-1, on the second weekend of the non-conference season.

SCOUTING COLUMBIA
> Columbia enters the weekend tournament with a 2-1 record, opening the season with wins over Howard (3-2) and Canisius (3-0), with a loss to St. John's (3-0) in between.
> The Lions are led by Chichi Ikwuazon's massive 5.55 kills per set, hitting a stout .440. She was named to the St. John's All-Tournament team and also earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors.
> Kiara Robichaud adds 2.45 kills per set to Columbia's offense, which is run by Audrey Cheng (7.64 assists/set).
> Defensively, Kalie Wood leads the team with 3.82 digs per set, while Soah Franklin tops the squad with 0.73 blocks per set.
> As a team, Columbia hits .221, holding teams to .216 on offense.
> Temple is 2-0 all-time against Columbia, winning matches played in 1993 and 1994.

SCOUTING LEHIGH
> Lehigh is 4-3 to start the season, having won four straight matches.
> The Mountain Hawks opened the season with three losses to tough competition -- Ohio State, VCU, and Texas Tech in Ohio State's tournament, before sweeping through the Crosstown Invitational back at home. Lehigh topped Penn (3-1), Maryland Eastern Shore (3-1), Delaware State (3-0), and Manhattan (3-0) to win the tournament.
> Setter Sarah Carman was represented on the Patriot League "honorable mention' list after her play at the tournament that saw her record 9.77 assists and 1.88 digs per set.
> Lehigh's offense is led by Sabrina Lancaster's 3.22 kills per set, while Hannah Wright adds 2.68 kills per frame.
> The Mountain Hawks defense is headed up by Allison Garrett's 3.46 digs per set, while Lauren Bright (0.92 blocks/set) and Emily Poole (0.90 blocks/set) shore up the net defense.
> As a team, Lehigh hits .248, holding opponents to a .176 attack.
> Temple is 11-2 all-time against the Mountain Hawks, but Lehigh took the last meeting, 3-1, on a neutral court.

Volleyball Hosts Hilton Philadelphia at Penn's Landing Cherry & White Challenge this Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Gem Grimshaw

Baleigh Jean-Philippe

Tyler Lindgren

Katerina Papazoglou

Averi Salvador

Kayla Spells

Temple University Athletics