Volleyball Travels To Army for Black Knight Invitational

PHILADELPHIA - The Temple Owls Volleyball team will be on the road to play three matches this weekend at the Black Knight Invitational in West Point, N.Y. where they will take on No. 20 Kansas Jayhawks, St. Francis (Brooklyn) Terriers and the host Army Black Knights. The Owls will play one match on Friday versus Kansas at 1:30 p.m. and play a pair of matches on Saturday versus Army at 1:30 p.m. and St. Francis at 4:30 p.m. The match with Army be shown at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

QUICK SETS

Last weekend during the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn's Landing Cherry Invitational, Temple split a pair of matches versus Seton Hall (0-3) and Delaware (3-2).
Army is coming off a 0-3 weekend at the San Diego State Invitational, losing to Cal, UC San Diego, and San Diego State by the score of 1-3 in each match. A season ago, the Black Knights went 17-9 overall and 11-5 in the Patriot League and fell to Navy in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament, 0-3.
No. 20 Kansas enters the Black Knight Invite with a record of 3-0 with wins over Utah, Utah Valley, and Loyola Marymount during the Utah Classic a week ago. In 2021, the Jayhawks were selected to the NCAA Tournament where they picked up wins over No. 19 Oregon, No. 20 Creighton, eventually bowing out to No. 3 Pittsburgh. Last year, Kansas finished 18-12 overall and 8-8 in the Big 12.
St. Francis College is 2-1 this season after the Holly Young Invitational in Durham, N.H. The Terriers earned a pair of 3-0 victories over Hartford and Saint Peters, while their lone loss came against the host New Hampshire in four sets. The Terriers ended 2021 with a 9-20 overall record and 5-9 in NEC play.

OWL ABOUT TEMPLE IN 2022

Temple is off to a 1-1 start as it fell to Seton Hall, 0-3, to start the season to open the Cherry and White Challenge, but rebounded with a big five-set win versus Delaware.
All-Cherry and White Challenge Team selections Jelena Prolic and Taylor Davenport added 31 and 26 kills, respectively in the pair of matches.Prolic and Davenport set career-best in kills with 19 and 17 in the match versus the Blue Hens.

SCOUTING KANSAS

The Jayhawks started the season in the AVCA Top 25 rankings at No. 23, but with three wins last week during the Utah Classic, Kansas moved up three spots to No. 20.
KU returned All-American and 2022 Preseason All-Big 12, Caroline Bien, along with fellow all-preseason selection Rachel Langs to the 2022 roster. Bien is one kill (33) behind, teammate Anezko Szabo for the team lead. The middle blocker Langs is among the team leaders in blocks as she's totaled 12 blocks, one behind Szabo.

TEMPLE VS. KANSAS

The Jayhawks and Owls have met on the volleyball court two times. In 2005 and 2006, the schools have met with KU earning the wins in both matches and lead the series, 2-0.

SCOUTING ST. FRANCIS (BROOKLYN)

Terriers' libero Alasha Colon earned co-NEC Rookie of the Year honors in 2021 with a conference-best 519 digs.
In three matches this season, Colon has a team-best 40 digs. Teammates Penelope Rivera and Camelia Melendez have over 30 points apiece so far this season. Rivera is the team leader with 29 kills, while Melendez added 25, helping the Terriers to a 2-1 start.

TEMPLE VS. ST. FRANCIS (BROOKLYN)

This will be the first meeting between the two schools.

SCOUTING ARMY

To start the 2022 season, Army has Kovaci Lee's team was picked to finish second in the Patriot League. Paige Fixemar was the lone Black Knight tabbed for the preseason all-conference team.
Fixamar finished last season with 277 kills and 101 blocks. So far in 2022, In three matches this season, she has 29 putaways, including 16 versus UC Berkley and 11 against UC San Diego.

TEMPLE VS. ARMY

The Black Knights and Owls have played three times in their respective school's histories. 2022 Temple volleyball graduate Alma Kovaci Lee has led Army for the past 16 seasons and will face her former school for the third time in her career.
This weekend's match will be the third meeting between the two schools all-time and the first since the 2008 season.
The two teams have split the of pair matches in series matchup with the first played in 2006.

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