Volleyball Takes Down Cincy in Five; Owls Earn AAC Tournament Berth

Saturday, March 27

McGonigle Hall

3:00 P.M.

Temple University

10-5,4-4AAC

Cincinnati

6-7,4-4AAC

Cincinnati

Temple

Volleyball Takes Down Cincy in Five; Owls Earn AAC Tournament Berth

3.27.21 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA -- The Temple volleyball team punched its ticket to the 2021 American Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament with a thrilling 3-2 win over visiting Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon at McGonigle Hall. The Owls needed to win both games against the Bearcats this weekend to get the final spot in the East Division, and they did just that, winning a marathon match on Senior Day, 19-25, 30-28, 25-16, 21-25, 15-11. Temple improves to 10-5 overall, 4-4 in the conference, while Cincinnati ends its season at 6-7 overall, 4-4 in the American.

How It Happened
> Just one day after tallying a season-best 13 blocks, the Owls got even better today, striking for 14.
> Temple hit .250 in the match, holding Cincinnati to a .211 offensive attack.
> The Owls had to work from behind, rallying after a first set loss, to win the next two frames.
> Set two went deep into extra points, with the Owls winning 30-28 to tie things at 1-1.
> Temple had a decisive 25-16 win in the third set to go up 2-1.
> Cincinnati tied the match at 2-2 with a tight 25-21 win in the fourth, sending it to a fifth set.
> Three ties and a pair of lead changes in the fifth saw the Owls gain momentum midway through, finishing out a 15-11 and 3-2 win.

Individual Highlights
> Four players finished in double figures in kills, led by a 19-kill performance from Miray Bolukbasi. The junior added seven digs and three blocks.
> Freshman Taylor Davenport had a career day, tallying collegiate-bests of 12 kills and nine blocks, while also adding five digs.
> Junior Gem Grimshaw and senior Katerina Papazoglou each tallied 11 kills with Grimshaw adding 11 digs and seven blocks, a career-best.
> Sophomore Kayla Spells finished with nine kills with four blocks on the afternoon.
> Junior Tyler Lindgren did an excellent job distributing the offense, finishing with 54 assists and adding five digs.
> Freshman Falakika Danielson led all players with 26 digs, also adding three aces.

Set One: Cincinnati 25, Temple 19
> Temple led 5-1 early, before the Bearcats cut it to a 12-11 advantage with a 4-1 run.
> After Temple went back up by three, Cincinnati again rallied, this time a 9-0 surge to take over the match at 20-14.
> The Owls got the lead down to 22-19, but Cincinnati finished it out with three straight kills to lead 1-0.

Set Two: Temple 30, Cincinnati 28
> 17 ties and seven lead changes were the story of a marathon second set, as neither team led by more than three the whole frame.
> Cincinnati led 23-21 but Temple rallied for three straight to have set point at 24-23.
> The Bearcats spoiled it and then had two spoiled themselves, as Temple tied things at 27-27 and then again at 28-28.
> Temple finished out the set with a Bolukbasi kill and a block from Grimshaw and Davenport that gave the Owls the 30th point and the win.

Set Three: Temple 25, Cincinnati 16
> Both team hit over .260 in the third set but Temple won in the most lopsided frame of the day.
> Tied 7-7, Temple used a 6-2 run to go up 13-9.
> Cincinnati got as close as three points before Temple struck for an 8-4 surge to lead 21-13.
> The Bearcats cut the lead to 23-16, but the Owls used kills from Bolukbasi and Grimshaw to close it out.

Set Four: Cincinnati 25, Temple 21
> Cincinnati scored early and often in the fourth frame, opening with a 5-2 lead which increased to 10-5.
> Temple got the advantage down to just two points at 14-12, but Cincinnati used an 8-4 surge to take control, up 22-16.
> The Owls had one more rally in them, betting it down to 24-21, but it was too late of a push and Cincinnati tied the match with a 25-21 win.

Set Five: Temple 15, Cincinnati 11
> Temple grabbed the first two points of the fifth set, but found itself trailing 5-3 after a 5-1 Cincinnati surge.
> After tying things at 5-5, the Owls inched ahead 7-5 on a Grimshaw winner.
> Cincinnati got one back, but Temple used a 7-3 run to take control, going up 14-8.
> The Bearcats strung together three straight points to close the gap to 14-11, but a Papazoglou kill finished out the set and match for Temple.

Up Next
> Temple will compete in its first ever American Athletic Conference Tournament this weekend as the number two seed in the East Divsion.
> The Owls will take on the #1 seed from the West Division, Houston. Match times will be announced later this weekend.