Bolukbasi's Career-High 28 Kills Propels Volleyball to a Five-Set Victory On Senior Day

Saturday, November 27

McGonigle Hall

1:00 PM

Temple University

7-24,3-17AAC

ECU

9-20,5-15AAC

East Carolina

Temple

Miray Bolukbasi vs Wichita State 11.9.21

Bolukbasi's Career-High 28 Kills Propels Volleyball to a Five-Set Victory On Senior Day

11.27.21 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

PHILADELPHIA – On Saturday afternoon, Miray Bolukbasi, Gem Grimshaw, and Xeryah Salanoa played their final matches in McGonigle Hall with Cherry and White uniform on as all three Owls were critical in the five-set, 25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 25-21, 15-12 victory over the East Carolina Pirates (9-20, 5-15 AAC).

Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam on his team's season-ending victory.

"It's been a tough season for us. It's been a long year and a half. This group of girls has been going nonstop since June of 2020. We are all mentally exhausted and for them to put up a fight at the end today speaks of their character and their determination to finish strong."

Bolukbasi tied her career-high in kills in the match with a match-high of 28 kills. Grimshaw tallied her 16th double-digit kills match this season with 13. Salanoa came off the bench in the fourth set to spark the team with her serve with four-straight points.

Peyton Boyd and Jaliyaah Evans also added double-digit kills in the victory. Both Boyd and Evans chipped in with 12 kills apiece, while Evans set a career-high in the win.

Both Temple setters, Magdalena Rogalska (35) and Patrycja Zielinska (28) combined for 63 assists in the match. It was the first time this season that both Cherry and White setters would tally 20 assists or more in the same match.

RECAPPING THE MATCH

Set 1

Temple got the edge on ECU in the first set by the score of 10-6 with kills from Bolukbasi (2) Grimshaw, Spells, and Boyd.
The Pirates would go on a 7-3 run to tie the score 13-13.
Both teams traded points over the next 13 points, with the set being tied up five times.
With the Owls ahead by the score of 22-21, they would win the final three points of the first set to win 25-21 by a kill from Taylor Davenport and a service ace from Grimshaw.
Temple came out swinging with a .314 hitting percentage with 14 kills on 35 attempts and three errors, while East Carolina managed to .273 with 14 kills on 33 attempts and five errors.

Set 2

East Carolina would not trail in the second set, winning 25-17.
Temple hit .273 as a team, while six players recorded two kills apiece, but it wasn't enough as the Pirates' Natalie Tyson led all players in the set with five kills, while her team combined to hit .364.

Set 3

The Pirates earned a 25-20 victory in the third as Tyson had eight of her match-high 28 kills.
The ECU outside hitter Tyson had zero errors on 14 attempts in the second set.
East Carolina won the battle at the net with eight blocks, compared to TU's zero.
Both teams hit exceptionally in the set as the Cherry and White hit .297, but the Pirates recorded a .536 hitting percentage.
Bolukbasi kept pace with the Tyson with an Owls team-high seven kills.

Set 4

With the Cherry and White down by the score of 8-5, Salanoa entered into the match and reeled off four consecutive points, giving her team the 9-8 advantage.
ECU would tie the score and regain the momentum, taking a 17-13 lead with five kills from Tyson during the 8-5 run.
A 3-0 run that was capped off by Davenport and Grimshaw kills propelled the Owls onto a 25-21 victory in the fourth set.
Temple capped off the fourth set victory with Katerina Papazoglou serving five straight points and winning eight of the last 10.
Bolukbasi added seven more kills, while Grimshaw and Evans chipped in with four.

Set 5

The Pirates led 8-6 going into the media timeout.
The Owls won the second half of set five, winning nine of the final 13 points.
Temple would go on to win 15-12 in the fifth set behind eight points from Bolukbasi. The Turkey native had eight of the last nine Owls' points as she swung nine times with one error.

The Owls ended their season as they improved to 7-24 and 3-17 in the American. They also improved to 3-4 in five-set matches this season.

Temple Individual Leaders

Kills: Miray Bolukbasi - 28

Assists: Magdalena Rogalska - 35

Digs: Falanika Danielson - 18

Block: Kayla Spells – 3

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