Temple entered the 2024 season fresh off its best year since 2017. The Owls were coming off a year that included a 10-2 non-conference start and the first Temple Volleyball game played in The Liacouras Center.
But things quickly took a turn for the worse when American Athletic Conference play rolled around. The Owls went just 7-12 against their conference foes, putting a damper on what seemed to be a promising season.
Head coach Linda Hampton-Keith purposely scheduled higher-tier competition in non-conference play this year to prepare for the rigors of the American. The Owls faced off against North Carolina and No. 3 Penn State early in the year to gauge how they fared against the best.
The tougher schedule resulted in Temple heading into conference play with a mediocre 6-6 record, but they showed promise in those matchups. Temple is hoping those tougher games help it avoid a repeat of last season’s conference collapse, but things aren’t off to a promising start. Friday’s loss to USF dropped the Owls to 1-3 against their conference opponents.
“We’re not super caught up in the record because we know we got to get to the conference tournament, that was the intention behind that,” Hampton-Keith said. “The record isn’t any indication of where we are right now.”
Hampton-Keith’s strategy gives younger athletes a chance to see success early in the season, building confidence right away. Freshmen outside hitters Sydney Jones and Christiana Greene were key beneficiaries of the tactic. The freshmen trail only all-AAC outside hitter Taylor Davenport in kills this season.
The Owls traveled to compete at the Gamecock Invitational on Sept. 6 and 7. Temple only took one set away from North Carolina and was swept by South Carolina but they were able to gauge where the team stands and what is needed to take the next step.
“The good news is we played really well against those opponents,” Hampton-Keith said. “Didn’t necessarily get the result we wanted, but played well. Learned a lot about ourselves and so they were wins in my book.”
Temple has been plagued by a fearful mindset since the beginning of Hampton-Kieth’s tenure — something she has been trying to change. She notices panic set in once the team has a lead and they cave under pressure.
To spark a change, the Owls have been working with TUWell, a mental health and wellness service for student-athletes, to help with sports performance. The two groups have worked together since the spring and Stephany Coakley, senior associate athletic director for mental health, is helping the team build a culture and mentality that works.
The team has held meetings on different mental health concepts with Coakley and she has provided tools for the athletes that will help them on and off the court.
“It helps just talking about it,” said right-side hitter Avery Luoma. “It gives us a space to talk about what everyone sees and feels during the games. Having a space and somebody who understands more than we do about the mental game to talk with and get insights from is really helpful.”
However, the mindset challenges that tainted the Owls’ performance last season are still active now. In the second conference matchup of the season, Temple was swept by Tusla and looked out of sync for most of the afternoon.
“A little disappointing about the Sunday match is that it felt like it could have been a better matchup on the court,” Hampton-Keith said. “We showed up at times but it wasn’t long enough and consistent enough to get the result we wanted.”
Temple is at the point in its schedule where matches now determine if they make it to the conference tournament. But the Owls have tried to keep everything consistent. Hampton-Keith wants the team to have the same mindset going into each game.
The team has attempted to focus on only themselves while on the court this season and not worry about who the opponent is if they’re ranked or in the AAC. It’s a priority to stay steady with match preparation and not go on up-and-down waves like they did last season, Davenport said.
“We want to approach every game the same,” Davenport said. “We’ve been really emphasizing just being us, playing our game, playing what we know works and relying on our strengths. At the root of it, knowing that being us is enough for us to find success.”
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