Volleyball Wins Twice to Open American Volleyball Classic

Friday, September 6

Washington, D.C.

10:00 AM

Temple University

4-0

Ohio

1-4

Ohio

Temple

Photo by: Ian Feldmann

Volleyball Wins Twice to Open American Volleyball Classic

9.6.19 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Ohio Box Score (PDF)Winthrop Box Score (PDF)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Temple volleyball team ran its record to 5-0 to start the season, opening day one of the American Volleyball Classic with a pair of victories. The Owls topped Ohio University, 3-2 (25-22, 20-25, 20-25 25-23, 15-12), in a thriller to start the day, before grabbing a sweep over Winthrop, 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-12) to finish day one.

Quotable: Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam
> "Against Ohio, we tried to implement our game plan, but we weren't fast in making the adjustments we needed to make. We were much better in the fourth and fifth sets and we were able to side out at a faster pace."
> "Ohio runs a very good, fast paced offense, they pass well, and hit at a high percentage and are a good overall team. It was great to get that win. To go through some adversity in that match and to come out on top is great. It's a direct result of all of their hard work this year."
> "Winthrop runs a pretty good offense, they have a very skilled setter with some physical middles. Overall, we did a better job of implementing the game plan."
> "We played at a faster pace against Winthrop, which allowed us to create momentum from the get-go. Mentally it was excellent execution to keep that pace and put pressure on Winthrop."

Temple 3, Ohio 2 (25-22, 20-25, 20-25 25-23, 15-12)
> Temple needed all five sets to notch a come-from-behind win over Ohio to open the tournament.
> Both teams were rusty on offense to start the first set, with Temple's .156 attack outperforming Ohio at .091 to win it 25-22.
> Ohio took set two, 25-20, taking control of the match with a 5-1 run in the middle of the action, and maintaining the lead to the end to tie things at 1-1.
> The Bobcats continued to roll in the third set, jumping out to a 3-1 lead and not relinquishing the advantage in a 25-20 win.
> Temple forced a fifth set with a late run in the fourth, breaking a 12-12 tie with a 7-3 run. Ohio battled back to tie the frame at 20-20, but Temple got a huge block from Dana Westfield and Kayla Spells that sparked the Owls to the finish, as Temple closed out the tight 25-23 win.
> In the fifth, Ohio led 7-5 at the midway point, before a 9-3 Owls' run put Temple up 14-10. The Bobcats cut it to 14-12, but Miray Bolukbasi put one to the floor on the next serve, sealing the win for Temple.

Individual Leaders
> Sophomore Gem Grimshaw was one of three players to notch double-doubles, leading Temple with career highs of 20 kills and 15 digs.
> Sophomore Tyler Lindgren also had a career day with a 49-assist, 18-dig double-double, while junior Averi Salvador notched her first career double-double with a match-best 20 digs to go along with 12 assists.
> Junior Katerina Papazoglou tallied nine digs and eight kills with Bolukbasi notching 11 kills and five digs.
> Spells finished with six kills, hitting .400, while Westfield tallied seven kills.
> Rounding out the box score, junior Selina Merfol saw her first action of the season, tallying nine digs.

Temple 3, Winthrop 0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-12)
> Temple got hot early and kept its momentum throughout the match, sweeping Winthrop to move to 5-0. The Owls hit .284 for the match, holding the Eagles to a .073 attack.
> In set one, Temple opened on a 5-0 run, pushing the advantage to 12-3 early. Winthrop closed the gap late in the frame, making it 24-18, but a Grimshaw winner put set one in the books for Temple, 25-18.
> A 4-1 start to the second set for the Owls was erased when Winthrop tied the frame at 12-12. Temple went on a run to open up a 21-16 lead, before closing it out on an Eagles error, 25-20.
> Winthrop led early in the third set, but Temple took over the advantage at 9-8. From there, it was all Owls, as the Cherry and White closed the set and match on a 16-4 run.

Individual Leaders
> Grimshaw led all players with 15 kills, while Papazoglou added 10 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double of the season.
> Lindgren tallied her third straight double-double notching 29 assists with a career-best 19 digs.
> Spells and Westfield each added six kills, while junior Baleigh Jean-Phillipe notched four kills and a team-high five blocks.
> Averi Salvador led Temple with 20 digs.

Up Next:
> Temple wraps play at the American Volleyball Classic, matching up against the host Eagles tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.