After ranking second in the American Athletic Conference in attacking percentage last season, Temple found more resistance than usual Friday night against the University of Oregon.
The No. 13 ranked Ducks defeated the Owls in straight sets, 3-0, spoiling Temple’s season opener at McGonigle Hall.
Sophomore outside hitter Dara Peric said the Owls are using the loss as a benchmark to learn what they need to improve.
“This was a great opportunity for us to see what we’ll see from other teams as well,” Peric said.
Oregon held Temple’s attacking percentage to 12.4 percent, compared to the Owls 24.4 percentage last season. Coming into the match, the Owls knew the Ducks’ athleticism and skill up front would present problems at the net.
“We talked about utilizing the big block and hitting around the block,” sophomore Izzy Rapacz said.
Ganesharatnam said the Owls plan to make adjustments to prepare for the team’s two games on Saturday against Navy and St. John’s University.
“We want to serve the ball a little more aggressively than we did tonight so we put the other team in a position where they can’t attack in system,” Ganesharatnam said. “If we do that, then we put ourselves in a position to be in system and therefore have a higher percentage of kills.”
Evan Easterling can be reached at tuf86397@temple.edu
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