Volleyball's Cinderella Run Comes to an End in AAC Championship Match

Saturday, April 3

Cincinnati, Ohio

3:00 PM

Temple University

11-6,5-4AAC

UCF

16-1,9-0AAC

Temple

UCF

Volleyball's Cinderella Run Comes to an End in AAC Championship Match

4.3.21 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

CINCINNATI — The Temple volleyball team's Cinderella run through the postseason came to an end on Saturday, as the Owls fell 3-1 at the hands of three-time defending American Athletic Conference Champion, UCF, in the league's title game. The Knights took the four-set match, 25-20, 24-26, 25-13, 25-20, to improve to 16-1 on the season, earning the AAC's automatic NCAA bid. Temple dips to 11-6 overall on the season.

How it Happened
> UCF got off to a hot start, hitting .366 in the opening frame to take it 25-20.
> Temple tied the match at 1-1 with an extra points 26-24 win in the second.
> The Knights dominated the third set, en route to a 25-13 win to go up, 2-1.
> Temple stayed with UCF in the fourth and final set, but ultimately the Knights finished out the 25-20 and 3-1 win.
> Temple hit .201 in the match with four blocks and 60 digs, while UCF led in all three categories, hitting .375 with 11.5 blocks and 68 digs.

Individual Highlights
> Junior Gem Grimshaw was spectacular once again, tallying a double-double with 20 kills and 11 digs to earn All-Tournament honors.
> Junior Tyler Lindgren also secured a spot on the All-Tournament team, dishing out 47 assists and adding 11 digs to also go for a double-double.
> Senior Katerina Papazoglou shined in her last match as an Owl with 12 kills and eight digs.
> Junior Miray Bolukbasi finished with 11 kills and added eight digs.
> Freshman Falanika Danielson ended her match with a team-best 16 digs.
> Elsewhere, sophomore Kayla Spells had four kills, while freshman Taylor Davenport finished with a team-high three blocks.

Set One: UCF 25, Temple 20
> It was a tight set one to start the Championship match. Neither team led by more than two points until a 3-0 UCF tum put the Knights up 13-10.
> Temple battled back to tie on a Papazoglou kill, before UCF surged ahead, this time going up 16-13.
> The Owls cut the deficit to two points on a Bolukbasi winner, but UCF finished the match on a 5-1 run to win it 25-20.

Set Two: Temple 26, UCF 24
> Temple tied the match at 1-1 with a strong set two where the Owls hit .316, their best effort of the match.
> Temple took over the lead at 2-1 but did not trail, though UCF tied the frame several times.
> The Owls were up 18-14 before UCF battled back to tie the set at 22-22.
> Temple made another push but again UCF countered, as the frame was knotted at 24-24.
> The Cherry and White then used a Papazoglou kill and a Lindgren ace to finish out the 26-24 win.

Set Three: UCF 25, Temple 13
> UCF re-gained its momentum with a lopsided set three win, as the Knights hit .400 to cruise to a 25-13 win.
> Temple tying the match at 3-3, the Owls saw the Knights go up 11-6.
> The Owls closed the gap slightly, but UCF surged to a 20-11 lead and then ended the match on a 5-0 run to go up 2-1.

Set Four: UCF 25, Temple 20
> Temple played from behind in the fourth frame, but stayed close to UCF in a tight set.
> Neither team led by more than three, with ties as late as 18-18.
> UCF got the next tow points, but Temple closed the gap on a Grimshaw kill to make it 21-20.
> The Knights then used one final surge to take the set and match on a 5-0 run.