Volleyball to Take on No. 12 Penn State in First-Ever Match in Liacouras Center

PHILADELPHIA - The Temple volleyball team will be back in action at home on North Broad Street on Friday, but not in McGonigle Hall. The Owls will host No. 12 Penn State in the first-ever match in the Liacouras Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and will be available on ESPN+ app. Tickets are still are still available on owlstix.com with pricing set for $11 for reserved seating and $ 7 for groups of 20 or more.

WEEKEND RECAP
Temple went 2-1 in last weekend's Towson/Morgan State Tournament, improving to 6-1 overall on the season. The Owls got the weekend started on Friday with a five-set win over Dartmouth (25-14, 24-26, 25-11, 22-25, 15-8) as outside hitters Avery Luoma and Taylor Davenport combined for 36 kills in the win. A day later versus against Towson, the Owls lost in three-sets, halting their win streak at five and becoming the last team in the AAC to drop a match. To close out the weekend, the Cherry and White improved to 6-1 on the season after hitting .400, a mark that is the fourth-highest in the AAC.

CHERRY AND WHITE HONORS
In week two of action, Temple placed sophomore middle blocker Samantha Jo Mikosky and senior outside hitter Taylor Davenport on to the AAC Honor Roll.

Mikosky averaged 1.21 blocks per game and totaled 17 blocks in four matches last week as the Temple Owls improved to 6-1 on the season. On Tuesday versus Delaware State, the Bethlehem, Pa. native got her week started with six blocks against the Hornets. On Saturday in the loss to Towson, Mikosky's presence at the net helped keep the Owls in each of the three sets, netting five blocks on the night. Temple's middle finished her weekend with six blocks in the sweep of the Morgan State Bears on Sunday.

Davenport led the Owls in kills in each of the four matches last week and helped the team to a 3-1 record, while improving 6-1 overall. Davenport totaled 62 kills, while earning her second career double-double on Friday in a five-set thriller against Dartmouth. In that match, the outside hitter tallied 24 kills and 10 digs, while tying a career-high with five service aces. The senior hit .267 or better in three of the four matches and averaged 5.29 points per set.

Additionally, the senior Davenport opened the first weekend of play with 18 kills against Iona, a double-double versus LIU (20 kills, 10 digs), and 19 kills against Lehigh in the tournament clincher on her way to winning the AAC Conference Offensive Player of Week for Week 1. She became the first Temple player since to win the AAC Offensive Player of the Week since Izabella Rapacz in 2017.

FLIGHT TD 14
Going into Friday's match, Davenport senior is ranked first in the AAC and third in the NCAA with 5.35 kills per set. Also the TU standout is currently ranked third in the nation and first in the conference with 6.11 points per set.

WEEKEND BLOCK PARTY
Through seven matches this season, middle blocker Samantha Jo Mikosky is picking up where she left off her freshman season. With her 26 total blocks, Mikosky is in the top 10 of the AAC with 1.18 blocks per set, good for ninth in the AAC.

TRANSFER EXPERIENCE
Going into this season, the additions of Avery Luoma and Olivia Vance will be pivotal to the growth of the Temple offensive scheme.

Luoma has started to gel with the Owls' setters, adding her first-ever double-double in an Owls' uniform last weekend. In Friday's first-set thriller versus Dartmouth, the graduate transfer collected 12 kills and 13 digs. She closed out her week with 10 more kills and a .348 hitting percentage, helping the Owls to a .400 team hitting percentage. A mark that is ranked 13th all-time in school history during the 25-point scoring format.

During the first weekend of action, Luoma was voted to the Cherry & White Challenge All-Tournament Team as she totaled 23 kills, while averaging 2.56 kills per set. The Phoenix, Ariz. native also added three service aces and three blocks.

Vance saw her first action of the season last weekend as she played in back-to-back games against Dartmouth and Towson. On Friday, played in all five sets versus the Big Green when she added two kills, two assists, and two blocks and followed it up the next day versus the Tigers with three kills, four digs, and three blocks.

SETTING SITUATION
Setter Patrycja Zielinska is off to the best start of her career, setting 7.83 assists per set. The Polish setter goes into Friday's match seventh in the AAC in assists per set.

In the first weekend of play, weekend Zielinska earned Hilton Philadelphia Penn's Landing Cherry & White Challenge All-Tournament Team honors as she tallied 74 assists, while averaging 9.24 assists per set and three service aces.

In the offseason, Temple added two highly touted setters, Lexi Yoza and Ava Blascziek. Both rookie setters have played in all seven matches as reserves. Yoza has added 50 assists and Blascziek with 42 to date. Notably, in Temple's five-set win versus Dartmouth on Friday, Yoza came Blascziek came off the bench with her first double-double with 24 assists and 10 digs. On Aug. 27 in a sweep of Lehigh, Blascziek came off the bench in the second set to finish off the 3-0 victory and dished out 18 assists.

ALL ACES
As a team, Temple is ranked second in the AAC with 1.89 aces per set and tied for fourth with 34 total aces, while graduate transfer Jelena Prolic is tied for sixth in the conference with .44 aces per set.

SCOUTING PENN STATE
Senior Jess Mruzik picked up a pair of awards on Tuesday following an impressive performance in three wins at the Penn State Invitational. She was named the AVCA/GameChanger Division I National Player of the Week, as well as the Big Ten Player of the Week. Mruzik was voted the MVP of the tournament after hitting .345 with 53 kills (5.30/set) 14 digs (1.40/set), eight blocks and three aces as Penn State went 3-0 with wins over No. 22 Western Kentucky (3-1), Colgate (3-0), and James Madison (3-1). She reached 1,000 career kills with her second kill in the opening set of the win over Colgate.

TEMPLE VS. PENN STATE
Temple and Penn State have played 20 times in their respective schools' histories with Penn State holding an 18-2 advantage. The last time a meeting took place in 2018 at the Penn State Invitational when then ranked No. 6 Penn State defeated Temple 25-19, 25-22, 25-22. The last time the Owls faced Penn State in Philly was in September of 2009 in a home and home series on back-back nights. The attendance for that game in McGonigle Hall was 2719, the largest attendance ever to attend a Temple volleyball match.

UP NEXT
The Cherry and White will be back in their normal home of McGonigle Hall this coming Wednesday, Sept. 13 at 6 p.m. to take on the Princeton Tigers.

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 to Take on No. 12 Penn State in First-Ever Match in Liacouras Center

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Players Mentioned

Ava Blascziek

Taylor Davenport

Avery Luoma

Samantha Jo Mikosky

Jelena Prolic

Lexi Yoza

Patrycja Zielinska

Temple University Athletics