Volleyball Begins AAC Play at Wichita State and Tulsa This Weekend

Friday, September 27

Wichita, Kan.

8 P.M.

Temple University

Wichita State

Volleyball Begins AAC Play at Wichita State and Tulsa This Weekend

9.25.24 | Women's Volleyball

Watch (ESPN+ - WSU)Watch (ESPN+ - Tulsa)Stats (WSU)Stats (Tulsa)

PHILADELPHIA – The Temple Owls volleyball team (6-6) makes a midwest trip this weekend as it takes on Wichita State (5-7) and Tulsa (8-4) to begin American Athletic Conference play. On Friday, Oct. 27, the Owls will take on the Shockers at 8 p.m. ET and then the Golden Hurricane on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. ET. Both matches will be available on ESPN+.

SCOUTING TEMPLE

The Temple Owls come into this weekend with a 6-6 overall record after recording a 1-1 last weekend at the Villanova Wildcat Challenge with a straight-sets loss to Villanova on Friday night, followed by a straight-sets win versus Marist on Saturday. Freshmen Sydney Jones and Christiana Greene earned all-tournament honors.
Head coach Linda Hampton-Keith earned her 100th career win with the 25-14, 25-20, 25-18 sweep of Marist.
Temple players Lexi Yoza, Christiana Greene and Alyssa Finister earned American Athletic Conference Honorable Mention this week as the Owls posted a 1-1 record at the Villanova Wildcat Challenge.
For Yoza it's her third conference mention this season. The sophomore quarterbacked the Owls' offense to the tune of 38 assists throughout the team's six sets at the Villanova Wildcat Challenge. Yoza started the weekend with a team-high 13 assists and added seven digs on the defensive side against the Wildcats. The Scottsdale, Ariz. native highlighted her weekend on Saturday in a straight-sets win versus Marist with a match-high 25 assists, averaging 8.33 assists per set and a match-high four service aces.
Greene earned her first conference honor as she was one of the Owls best offensive players. In the two matches last weekend, the freshman tallied 15 kills with a .344 hitting percentage and five blocks versus Villanova. The freshman highlighted her weekend on Friday night versus Villanova with 11 kills, one shy of her career-high, while hitting. 400. In Saturday's sweep of Marist, the Columbia, S.C. native assisted Temple in the victory with four blocks.
The junior Finister earned her second-ever AAC accolade as she averaged 1.33 blocks per set during the two-day Wildcat Challenge. The Houston, Texas native had a match-high five blocks, averaging 1.67 blocks per set versus Villanova on Friday night. Finister added three more blocks in the sweep of the Marist Red Foxes in the tournament finale. Offensively, the Owls' middle blocker added four kills in both matches.
Graduate student Taylor Davenport continues to be one of the best offensive threats in the NCAA. The Columbia, S.C. native is ranked in the top 15 in three categories, and top 20 in one. Davenport comes into the weekend No. 12 with 11.95 attacks per set, No. 14 in the nation with 190 points and 190 kills, and No. 15 with 4.52 kills per set.
Sydney Jones played in just the one match over the weekend, versus Marist, leading Owls with 16 overall points, including a match-high 10 kills, four service aces, seven digs, and four aces.

SCOUTING WICHITA STATE

The Shockers have played six matches (0-6) versus teams either ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 rankings, but come into the match with a 5-7 overall record.
Last weekend, WSU hosted the Shocker Volleyball Classic where they went 2-1 against Northern Colorado, Cal Poly, and Omaha. On Thursday, Wichita State knocked off Cal Poly in five sets with Alyssa Gonzalez and Emerson Wilford added 12 and 10 kills respectively. Defensively, Sarah Baram added 10 blocks in the win. One day later, Northern Colorado defeated the Shockers in four sets, but rebounded to defeat Omaha in another five-set thriller, with Morgan Stout leading the squad with 14 kills, while Gonzales (12) and Wilford (11) combined for 23 kills.
Stout leads the 2024 squad so far with 125 kills while hitting a team-best .273 and anchors the defense with 43 total blocks.

HISTORY VERSUS WICHITA STATE

The Shockers hold an 8-2 all-time record versus Temple, all of which have been played under the American Athletic Conference banner. WSU has won the last five matches, three of which have been sweeps.

SCOUTING TULSA

Just like Wichita State, the Golden Hurricane have played a highly competitive non-conference schedule. Tulsa comes into the weekend with an 8-4 record, but have lost their last three matches to No. 6 Purdue, No. 10 Kansas, and Oklahoma. In all, the Tulsa has played four AVCA Top 25 teams. Earlier in the season, the Hurricane squad did knock off the No. 23 Baylor in five sets at the Baylor Classic.
At last weekend's Oral Roberts Volleyball Classic, Tulsa went 3-0. On Friday versus Bethune Cookman, Rachel Brown and Lauren Eitler had seven kills during the match. Setter Brayden Hipp finished with a team-high 19 assists. Later that day against Sam Houston, Eitler helped the Golden Hurricane past SHU with 13 kills. Three TU players reached double-figures in kills with Eitler leading the way with 13 kills. Hipp and Brittany Bacorn combined with 37 assists. The veteran Hipp led with 29 assists, while the freshman Bacorn added 18. Cross town rival Oral Roberts Had no answer for Tulsa on the final day of the tournament. TU ended up winning is straight sets 25-14, 25-10, 25-15, while Tatum Tornatta had a match-high 11 kills
The Golden Hurricane has a balanced offense with seven people having 50 or more kills on the season. Tornatta leads team with 89 followed by Rachel Brown with 84. Defensively, Tytiana Johnson leads the team with 44 total blocks and Marta Pecalli has a team-best 194 digs.

HISTORY VERSUS TULSA

The Golden Hurricane hold an 9-7 all-time record versus Temple, all of which have been played under the American Athletic Conference banner. Tulsa has won the last eight matches, seven of which have been sweeps.

UP NEXT
The Owls will return to McGonigle Hall on Oct. 4 and Oct. 6 to square off against South Florida and Florida Atlantic, respectively.

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