Temple Sweeps Defending American Athletic Conference Champion UCF

Sunday, September 27

Orlando, Fla.

2:00 p.m.

Temple University

11-3, 2-0AAC

UCF

7-7, 1-1AAC

Temple University

UCF

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Temple Sweeps Defending American Athletic Conference Champion UCF

9.27.15 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Temple volleyball team posted a 3-0 sweep on the road at defending American Athletic Conference Champion, UCF, on Sunday afternoon. The Owls grabbed the match, 25-22, 25-16, and 25-12, to move to 11-3 overall, 2-0 to start play in The American, while the Knights fall to 1-1 in the conference, 7-7 overall.

The Temple sweep was the first for the Owls against UCF in seven previous meetings. Temple has now evened the all-time series with the Knights at 4-4, dating back to 1986. Today's sweep also marked the second of the weekend for the Owls, who took down USF, 3-0, on Friday.

"Beating the defending conference champion, and beating them 3-0, is a very, very difficult thing to do," noted head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam. "For us to do what we did this weekend, two sweeps over two very good teams, just shows how successful we were on this trip."

Temple's attack combined for a .378 clip, led by sophomore Irem Asci, who notched 12 kills, while hitting .435. Classmate Izzy Rapacz added 11 kills and junior Kirsten Overton picked up 10, with Rapacz hitting .381 and Overton attacking at a match-high .571 clip. Senior Sandra Sydlik dished out 36 assists, while adding three aces.

Defensively, Temple out-dug the Knights, due in large part to a match-high 20 digs from senior Alyssa Drachslin. Asci added six digs in the win with sophomore Dara Peric and senior Kayla Yingling adding four each.

"It was a huge team effort for us," explained Ganesharatnam. "In both matches this weekend, I thought we were in control the whole time, which is a very good sign, so I'm very happy for the team."

Temple took a tight first set (25-22) that featured eight ties and five lead changes. The Owls used a 5-0 surge midway through play to take a 15-12 lead, but UCF battled back to tie it at 17-17. The match was knotted as late as 20-20, but Temple got hot down the stretch, using a pair of kills from Overton and an ace and the final kill of the frame from Asci.

The Owls led out of the gate in set two, with the only tie of the frame coming at 1-1. UCF hung around, staying within two or three points, however, until a 5-1 Temple run gave the Owls a 17-11 cushion. The Knights cut the lead to four at 17-13, but Temple closed out the set on an 8-3 surge, winning it 25-16 on a Simmons kill.

Temple dominated set three from start to finish, holding the Knights to a .000 hitting percentage. The Owls opened up on the attack, carrying a two-point lead before a 7-0 surge pushed the TU advantage to 15-6. The Temple lead ballooned to 20-8 before UCF battled back to get it below nine at 21-19. Temple had little trouble closing out the set, though, scoring three-straight and sealing the sweep on a Drachslin ace.

Temple opens its home conference schedule next weekend. The Owls will host Memphis on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Cincinnati on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

"We will enjoy the win, but quickly switch our focus to Cincinnati and Memphis," added Ganesharatnam. "They are two very solid, very competitive teams who are coming this weekend."

Box Score (PDF)