Volleyball Closes Out Regular Season Against Cincinnati and ECU

PHILADELPHIA - The Temple volleyball team will close out its regular season this weekend as they host Cincinnati and East Carolina for a pair of matches inside McGonigle Hall. On Friday, Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. ET, the Cherry and White will host Cincinnati. Just a day later, the Owls and the Pirates will end the season with match time scheduled at 1 p.m. ET.

Both matches will be available on the ESPN+ app.

OWL ABOUT TEMPLE

The Owls will close out the regular-season starting on Friday, Nov. 26 versus Cincinnati and then round out the season with senior day festivities after the match versus ECU on Nov. 27.
Temple heads into the weekend with a 6-23 overall record and 2-16 AAC play.
Miray Bolukbasi ranks seventh in the AAC as she leads the Owls' offense on the right side with 3.26 kills per set.
Fellow hitters, Gem Grimshaw and Katerina Papazoglou round out the outside hitters as they add in 3.14 k/s and 1.20 k/s, respectively.
Both players are vital in the serve reception game as Grimshaw is second on the team with 2.35 digs/set, while Papazoglou has added 2.08. On Nov. 12, versus Wichita State, Papazoglou marked her name in the record book with her 1000th career dig.
Taylor Davenport averages 1.40 kills per set at the middle blocker position, with a team-leading 1.18 blocks per set, good for third in the conference.
Freshman Patrycja Zielinska quarterbacks the offense to the tune of 7.75 assists per frame.Libero Falanika Danielson is fifth in the American with 4.00 digs per set.

SCOUTING CINCINNATI

UC pulled out two five-set wins versus Wichita State and Tulsa last weekend, keeping their fourth-place standing in the AAC. The Bearcats are 17-9 overall and 12-6 in the conference.
Maria Mallon is one of the leaders in the American of kills per set. Her 3.59 kills per frame rank her fourth in the conference, and her 442.5 points per set and 384 kills are a Bearcats best.
Abbey Walker is second on the team in those categories, tallying 337 points and 262 kills this season.
In addition, Adria Oliver was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll for her performance in the matches versus the Shockers and the Golden Hurricane. She totaled 22 kills with a .606 hitting percentage in those games.
As a team, Cincinnati ranks third in the AAC in kills per set (13.5) and second in assists per set (12.6).

TEMPLE VS. CINCINNATI

The Owls lead the all-time series against the Bearcats, 9-6. However, Bearcats have won four of the last six matches, including a 3-1 win on Oct.10.Miray Bolukbasi led Temple with a season-

high 19 kills in the match, while Maria Mallon was one of three UC players to record double-digit kills. Mallon recorded 18, Kailea Carrier notched 15, and Shannon Williams added 12.

A season ago, the Cherry and White swept the season series with 3-1 and 3-2 victories on Broad Street. On March 26,Miray Bolukbasi paced Temple's offense to the tune of 17 kills while adding seven digs and a pair of blocks. The next day, along with Bolukbasi's 19 kills, Taylor Davenport had a career day, tallying collegiate bests of 12 kills and nine blocks while also adding five digs.

SCOUTING ECU

The Pirates have lost their last five matches, including last weekend's losses to Wichita State and Tulsa, dropping their overall record to 9-18 and 5-13 in the AAC.
East Carolina enters the final week of the regular season ranked fourth among AAC squad in opposing hitting percentage (.212).
Freshmen Tia Shum and Amelia Davis slot in the top 10 respectively in digs per set (3.86) and blocks per set (0.95).

TEMPLE VS. ECU

Temple leads the all-time series at 9-5. However, the Pirates defeated the Owls in five of the last seven encounters, including a 3-0 win at ECU on October 8. The Owls' Miray Bolukbasi led her team with eight kills during the match, while Sydney Kleinman had a match-high 13 for the Pirates. A pivotal key in the game for both sides was the play of ECU's Aliyah Griffin, who had four blocks in the match.
The last match Temple won in the series occurred last season in the second of a weekend series (3/12/21), where they defeated the Pirates by the score of 3-1. Gem Grimshaw (14 kills, 11 digs) and Tyler Lindgren (26 assists, 13 digs) both tallied double-doubles to lead the TU offense.

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