Volleyball Begins AAC Schedule at Wichita State and Tulsa

PHILADELPHIA - Temple volleyball opens up its AAC conference schedule this weekend as they travel to Wichita State and Tulsa. The Owls and the Shockers will open conference play on Friday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. ET at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas. Two days later on Sept. 25, Temple will be back in action in Tulsa, Okla. for a Sunday matinee at the Reynolds Center against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. ET. Both matches will streamed with Wichita State available on ESPN+ and Tulsa on YouTube.

OWL ABOUT TEMPLE IN 2022

Temple comes into the weekend 6-5 after going 2-1 last weekend at the Sheraton University City Invitational at Penn, beating Providence 3-2 on Friday, but fell to George Washington 1-3, but ended the tournament with a hard-fought four-set win over Penn.Last weekend, sophomore Taylor Davenport led the Owls in the three matches while tallying 56 kills and 10 blocks.Against Providence, the sophomore topped the 20-kill barrier for the fourth time this season while recording the second-most this season with 23.Davenport leads the team and is second in the AAC with 185 kills.The outside hitter also ranks third in the conference with 4.02 kill/set.

TRANSFER EXPERIENCE

The Owls begin this season with two new faces to Philly, but not new faces to DI collegiate volleyball.Junior Jelena Prolic and sophomore Chudear Tut were added to head coach Linda Hampton-Keith's roster in April and will look to bolster the Owls' offensive attack in 2022. Prolic spent the past three seasons with Coastal Carolina, earning herself two Sun Belt East Championships and two trips to the conference championship round. The Subotica, Serbia native played in 73 matches for the Chanticleers from 2019-21, tallying 176 kills and digging 197 balls from the outside hitter position. Tut, a former MEAC Rookie of the Year, Second Team All-MEAC, All-Tournament Team from Coppin State will help hold the middle for the Owls. During the spring season of 2021, Tut led the team with 56 blocks and second with 151 kills. Additionally, she recorded 10 or more kills 10 times and double-digit blocks in all but one contest. Just last season, the Minneapolis, Minn. native missed the first half of the year due to injury but finished with a school-record .353 hitting percentage on 98 kills.
So far in 2022, Prolic has been key to the offense, tallying double-digit kills in six of the 11 matches. Prolic is third on the team with 98 kills and had a career-high 19 putaways versus Delaware on Aug. 26.Two weekends ago, Tut was big in the four-set victory over Army as she recorded 12 kills, her first double-digit kill match in a Owls uniform. Currently the Minneapolis, Minn., native is fourth on the team with 70 kills and second with 35 blocks.

SETTING SITUATION

Sophomore Patrycja Zielinska has led the Temple offense this season to a 6-5 overall record. A season ago, Zielinska recorded 827 assists in 31 matches. She is one of only three players this season in the AAC to average over 10 assists/set (10.06), which is third best in the AAC.In 2022, the Francizkow, Poland native has dished out 351 assists already.On two occasions, this season Zielinska has topped the 50-plus assists mark twice in a match. On Sept. 3 versus St. Francis (Brooklyn), Zielinska guided the Owls toa five-set win with a career-high 57 assists.
Magdalena Rogalska got three starts at setter last weekend at the UPenn Sheraton University City Invitational where she tallied 103 assists. In Rogalska's first start of the season, she tallied a double-double that included 36 assists and 11 digs in the five-set win versus Providence. On Saturday, the Polish setter set recorded a season-high 39 assists in the four-set victory versus Penn.

DEFENDING THE BACK ROW

Going into 2022, Falanika Danielson had 797 career digs after a career-high 471 in 2021.The 2020 AAC Libero of the Year is looking for her 1000th-career dig, currently at 948.Danielson has recorded 151 digs already in 2022 while averaging 3.30 digs/set, good for sixth in the AAC.The Ewa Beach, Hawaii native, set a season-high in digs versus Cornell on Sept. 10 as she recorded a season-high 23, marking the 16th time in her career Danielson achieved the 20-plus assists mark.
Through 11 season matches, freshman defensive Nalani McBride recorded 65 digs, with a career-high 11, twice, against St. Francis and Cornell.Fellow defensive specialist Nikki Shimao also played a big part in the Owls' success as she set a career-high 15 digs against UAlbany, totaling 86 so far this season.

MIDDLE MANAGEMENT

Through 11 matches into her career, middle blocker Samantha Jo Mikosky has been a steady force, not just as a middle blocker, but also at the service line. So far in the early season, Mikosky has averaged an AAC-best 1.22 blocks/set, including a career-high 11 versus Colgate on Sept. 10, which ranks as the third-best mark in school history for a single match. In addition, her 55 total blocks are the best in the AAC.From the service line, the Bethlehem, Pa. native has connected with 11 service aces, including a career-high three in the five-set win versus Cornell on Sept. 10.

FRONT LINE DEFENSE

The Owls are tied for No. 3 in the AAC conference with 102 total team blocks, ranking No. 5 with 2.22 blocks/set. So far in 2022, the Owls have totaled 10 or more blocks in four separate matches.

FIVE-SET PERSEVERANCE

The Owls have an overall record of 6-5, and in those 11 matches, the Owls have played four five-set matches with a perfect 4-0 record. Last week, the Owls recorded their latest five-set win as they defeated Providence, 24-26, 25-17, 14-25, 25-22, 15-11.

SCOUTING WICHITA STATE

Wichita State went 1-1 last weekend with a win over Dayton, 3-1, and followed it up with a five-set loss to Wright State. Kayce Litzau dished out 97 assists for the Shockers in those two matches at the Tru by Hilton Dayton Beavercreek Invitational, racking up 49 in the four-set win over Dayton and 48 in the defeat at Wright State. Litzau has raised her season average to 9.88 (68th nationally). Litzau has 415 assists on the season, 58th most in the country.

TEMPLE VS. WICHITA STATE

The Shockers and Owls have met on the volleyball court seven times all-time. Wichita leads the all-time series with a 5-2 record. The two teams first met in 2017, and a season ago, WSU defeated the Cherry and White in each of the two matches.

SCOUTING TULSA

The Golden Hurricane finished last weekend by going 2-1, taking down McNeese State and Sam Houston, but fell to No. 14 ranked Baylor. Libero Marta Pecalli was named AAC Defensive Player of the Week as she led the Tulsa defense at the Baylor Classic by recording 73 digs at 6.64 digs per set while finishing with a 1.000 reception percentage. She had a weekend-high 33 digs in the five-set win over Sam Houston. In addition, fellow Tulsa player Kayley Cassaday was selected to last week's AAC Honor Roll as she led the Golden Hurricane offensive attack with 53 kills during the tournament and led the team with 4.82 kills per set and 5.18 points per set. She recorded a career-high 74 attacks in the win over Sam Houston, ending the weekend with 161 total attacks.

TEMPLE VS. TULSA

Temple leads the all-time matchup with a 7-6 record, but Tulsa has won the last five matches by the result of sweeps.

For complete coverage of Temple volleyball, follow the Owls on social media @Temple_VB (Twitter), facebook.com/TempleOwls (Facebook), @temple.vb (Instagram), or visit the official home of Temple University Athletics at owlsports.com.

Volleyball Begins AAC Schedule at Wichita State and Tulsa

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Falanika Danielson

Taylor Davenport

Nalani McBride

Samantha Jo Mikosky

Jelena Prolic

Magdalena Rogalska

Nikki Shimao

Chudear Tut

Patrycja Zielinska

Temple University Athletics

Volleyball Begins AAC Schedule at Wichita State and Tulsa

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Falanika Danielson

Taylor Davenport

Nalani McBride

Samantha Jo Mikosky

Jelena Prolic

Magdalena Rogalska

Nikki Shimao

Chudear Tut

Patrycja Zielinska

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