Temple University Athletics
Temple University
6-0
American
3-3
Volleyball Wins the American University Classic; Moves to 6-0
9.7.19 | Women's Volleyball
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Temple volleyball team won the 2019 American University Volleyball Classic with a 3-0 sweep of the host Eagles on Saturday afternoon. The Owls remained an unbeaten 6-0 on the season, closing out the weekend with a 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 win.
Quotable: Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam
> "American is a very good team, I think that talent-wise they're a top 25 team. They have all the tools."
> "Every component of our game was a team effort today. We did an excellent job executing the game plan. Our defense was tremendous and the blocking was great, everyone followed their assignments."
> "The composure on the court was very good, we showed grit and fight. We said that we wanted to play for each other and not ourselves and to do whatever we need to do for the team to be successful. This is our identity. I really feel that the way we played today is truly who we are as a team."
Individual Leaders
> Sophomore Gem Grimshaw racked up 13 kills to lead Temple, adding 11 digs for her second double-double of the season.
> Junior Katerina Papazoglou also had a great day, tallying nine kills with a season high 15 digs.
> Sophomore Tyler Lindgren dished out 23 assists with nine digs.
> Freshman Kayla Spells had six kills with a team-high five blocks, while sophomore Peyton Boyd tallied five kills with nine digs.
> Junior Averi Salvador led the Owls with 18 digs, while classmate Selina Merfol had nine assists and four digs.
Set One: Temple 25, American 19
> American had the early edge, but both teams stayed close until Baleigh Jean-Philippe sparked a 5-0 run with twi kills and a block, making it 14-11 Owls.
> American battled back to tie things at 15-15 and the teams stayed locked until the scoreboard read 18-18.
> From there, Temple took over, using a 7-1 run to end the first set 25-19.
Set Two: Temple 25, American 23
> Another tight set saw neither team take more than a three point edge in the early action.
> Temple used a run midway through play to open a five point lead at 14-9, but tight serving from American cut the lead to just two.
> The Eagles tied the match at 20-20 down the stretch, and it was again knotted up at 23-23.
> Temple then finished it out, as a Papazoglou kill and an American error gave the Owls a 2-0 match lead.
Set Three: Temple 25, American 20
> Temple broke an early 5-5 tie with a 10-3 run to open a large advantage over American.
> The Eagles slowly chipped away at Temple's lead, however, rallying all the way back to cut the lead to 23-19 late in the set.
> Temple didn't falter down the stretch though, as big kills from Jean-Philippe and Papazoglou provided the final boost the Owls needed to earn the sweep.
All-Tournament
> Salvador was named the AVC Tournament MVP after leading Temple's defense to the tune of 5.27 digs per set in the three matches. She also grabbed her first career double-double.
> Lindgren and Grimshaw earned All-Tournament honors. Lindgren averaged 9.18 assists per set, while showing her all around game with 4.00 digs per set, and a pair of double-doubles.
> Grimshaw led Temple with 4.36 kills per set adding 2.81 digs per frame and a pair of double-doubles.
Up Next
> Temple will host the 2019 Hilton Philadelphia at Penn's Landing Cherry & White Challenge next weekend at McGonigle Hall.
> The Owls' home tournament features competition from Columbia, Lehigh, and Radford.
