After a loss Oct. 14 against Connecticut, the Owls rebounded and defeated East Carolina 3-1 Sunday afternoon.
The game started out slow for Temple. The Owls (15-5, 6-2 American Athletic Conference) came into the game with a with an conference best 26.9 hitting percent, but were limited to just 11.4 percent in the 25-18 defeat in the first set.
“We started out really stressed after the [Connecticut] game,” sophomore outside hitter Irem Asci said. “The key is to just relax and have fun, it’s a game.”
In the second set, Temple found its rhythm offensively, hitting at 37.5 percent for the set. Junior outside hitter Tyler Davis had seven kills in the second set and finished with 16 total kills for the game. The Owls won the set, 25-22.
“After that first set we knew we had to make a change,” Davis said. “I think we really came together after that first set and were able to get a good team win.”
Asci kept the momentum going into the third set and Temple won 25-12. Asci, who had 22 kills on the night, had eight kills in the third frame.
In the final set of the match, the 25-23.
“It was really important to get the win today, losing to [Southern Methodist] and [Connecticut] those were tough matches,” Davis said. “But I think this was a good start to hopefully a new turnaround in our conference play.”
With 12 game left this season, coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam wants his team to focus on one game at a time.
“There is twenty matches in this conference, teams are gonna lose, teams are gonna win,” Ganesharatnam said. “Its very tough because every team plays twenty conference games, so we were never worried or bothered by any loss. We just look from match to match, and this one was an important one for us so I’m glad we got the win. Now we have four days to get ready for two really big games.”
Kevin Schaeffer can be reached at kevinschaeffer@temple.edu or @_kevinschaeffer
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