Owls Ready to Take On Houston and Tulane

PHILADELPHIA - The Temple volleyball team will be in action on the road this weekend as they travel to take on the Houston Cougars and Tulane Green Wave.

The Owls will face Houston on Friday night, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. ET and close out the weekend against Tulane on Halloween at 1 p.m. ET. Both matches will be available on the ESPN+ app.

OWL ABOUT TEMPLE

The Owls have been at home in McGonigle Hall for three of the last four weekends of conference play, with their lone win coming in come-from-behind fashion against the USF Bulls on Oct. 15. The Owls have gone 1-7 in that span.
Temple is 1-9 in league play, and it has dropped three-straight matches. Last weekend, the Cherry and White dropped the Oct. 22 match versus Tulsa, 3-0, and two days later, they were able to take the first set against the Wichita State Shockers but ultimately dropped the match 3-1.
In matches versus the Golden Hurricane and Shockers, graduate student Miray Bolukbasi picked up her second and third double-doubles of the season last weekend. The Owls' outside hitter had a match-high 16 kills and 11 digs versus the Golden Hurricane on Oct. 22. Two days later, Bolukbasi again led Temple versus the Shockers with 15 kills and 13 digs.
Last weekend, middle blocker Taylor Davenport led the Owls defensively with five and seven blocks. Davenport highlighted her weekend on Sunday versus Wichita State with her third match of the season of the seven or more blocks.
Right-side hitter Gem Grimshaw is tied for the Owls' lead with 3.45 kills per set, ranking her sixth in the league. The senior also ranks second on the Owls with 2.57 digs per set.
Starting outside hitters duo of Bolukbasi (3.11 k/s) and Katerina Papazoglou (1.30 k/s) also provide offense for Temple.
Taylor Davenport averages a team-leading 1.26 blocks per frame, good for second in the AAC.
Setter Patrycja Zielinska quarterbacks the Owls' offense with 8.38 assists per set.
Libero Falanika Danielson ranks in the top five of the conference with 4.23 digs per frame.

SCOUTING HOUSTON

Houston is the winner of three of the last four matches.
The Cougars come into Friday night's match in third place of the AAC with an 8-3 conference record and 18-5 overall.
The Cougars knocked off Tulane on Wednesday night at home by the score of 3-1 (25-22, 25-14, 18-25, 25-13) as Abbie Jackson led Houston with 19 kills. Sophomore setter Annie Cooke led the team with 41 assists.
As a team, Houston ranks first in the AAC with a .183 opponent hitting percentage with the help of the second-ranked 2.30 blocks per set.
Behind the service line, UH is also second in AAC, with 1.81 service aces per set.
Abbie Jackson is tied for first in the league with 91 aces and second overall with .40 aces per set.

TEMPLE VS. COUGARS

Temple and Houston have met 14 times, with the first meeting occurring in 2013.
The Owls hold a 10-4 advantage all-time advantage, winning seven of the last 10 matches.
Earlier this season (Oct. 3), the Cougars won in a 3-0 sweep (25-16, 26-24, 25-15). In the contest, Miray Bolukbasi had earned team-highs 12 kills and seven digs. The Owls had 11 team blocks in the loss, led by freshman Chelci Banks' team-high seven blocks. Temple owns a 5-1 record in Houston, Texas, while winning the last five contests at the Athletics/Alumni Center.

SCOUTING TULANE

Tulane has traded a win for a loss over the past six matches, going 3-3, putting them 6-5 in the AAC and 13-10 overall.
The Green Wave fell to Houston on Wednesday, 22-25, 14-25, 25-18, 13-25.
As a team, TU led the match with a .288 hitting percentage compared to Houston's .282. A foursome of Green Wave athletes had double-figure kills matches, led by Lexie Douglas' 15. Douglas also added 15 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Setter Taylor Henigsman had a match-high of 45 assists to add to her league-league leading 10.21 assists per set.
As a team, Tulane is ranked second in the AAC with a .240 hitting percentage.

TEMPLE VS. GREEN WAVE

Sunday's match will be the 13th meeting between the two schools, with the all-time series tied at 6-6.
On Oct. 1, the Green Wave knocked off the Owls in four sets (25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21). Senior Gem Grimshaw led the Cherry and White with a solid all-around game with a double-double (12 kills, 11 digs). Graduate student Miray Bolukbasi led the Owls with 13 kills in the match, while setter Patyrcja Zielinska earned her second 40-plus dig match of the season with a team-high 44.
Temple won the first three matches in the all-time series, but Tulane has won the last four contests.
TU goes into the weekend with a 2-3 all-time record in New Orleans, with its last win coming on Sept. 29, 2017.

For complete coverage of Temple volleyball, follow the Owls on social media @Temple_VB (Twitter), facebook.com/TempleOwls (Facebook), @temple.vb (Instagram), or visit the official home of Temple University Athletics at owlsports.com.

Owls Ready to Take On Houston and Tulane

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Chelci Banks

Miray Bolukbasi

Falanika Danielson

Taylor Davenport

Gem Grimshaw

Katerina Papazoglou

Patrycja Zielinska

Temple University Athletics

Owls Ready to Take On Houston and Tulane

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Chelci Banks

Miray Bolukbasi

Falanika Danielson

Taylor Davenport

Gem Grimshaw

Katerina Papazoglou

Patrycja Zielinska

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