Davenport's 37 Kills Pushes Temple Past Rider and Radford on Day One of the Cherry and White Invitational

PHILADELPHIA – The Temple Owls volleyball team improved to 2-0 as it scored a pair of victories to open up the 2024 season during Friday's Cherry and White Invitational. Graduate student outside hitter Taylor Davenport led the way for the Owls offensively with 37 kills against.

Match 1 - Temple 3, Rider 1

The Owls picked up a 26-24, 25-15, 22-25, 25-21 victory to begin the day as Davenport torched the Broncs for match-high 20 kills and seven digs to open play.
The setter duo of Lexi Yoza and Ava Blascziek combined to dish out 48 assists in the match, leading to Temple's .256 combined hitting percentage. Yoza edged her teammate Blascziek 26 to 22.
Graduate student right side hitter Avery Luoma helped the offense out on the day behind the service line with a match-high four aces.
Freshman Sydney Jones earned a starting nod for Temple, tallying 11 kills.
Luoma and Davenport earned a team-high seven digs, while as team, the Cherry and White had four players with four players with five or more digs.

Match 2 – Temple 3, Radford 0

The Owls turned around, less than one hour later to knock off the Highlanders in straight sets by the score of 25-17, 25-20, 25-23.
Again, it was the veteran Davenport who handled the bulk of the offense with a match-high 17 kills on 31 attempts. The Columbia native hit an impressive .452 in the victory.
The Scottsdale, Ariz. native Yoza handed out match-high 21 digs.
Transfer Hikialani Kaohelaulii anchored the defensive game with match-high 12 digs, pushing her closer to the 1,000 for her career. With the 12 digs in the victory, Kaohelaulii now has 913 for her storied career.

Up Next
The Owls now are setting their sights on the FDU on Saturday at 1 p.m. for day two of the Cherry and White Invitational. The match will be available on ESPN+.

For complete coverage of Temple volleyball, follow the Owls on social media @Temple_VB (Twitter), facebook.com/TempleVolleyball (Facebook), @temple.vb (Instagram), or visit the official home of Temple University Athletics at owlsports.com. Please consider supporting Temple Volleyball with a donation by clicking here -> https://bit.ly/3KIB2SD