Temple University volleyball (4-0, 0-0 The American Athletic Conference) shut out St. John’s University (1-1, 0-0 The Big East) 3-0 at McGonigle Hall on Saturday afternoon, extending its winning streak to four.
The Red Storm put up a fight defensively and kept the score close each set. Temple won the first set 25-23, the second 25-20 and the third 25-17.
Temple matched St. John’s aggressive defensive playing style and started taking over on offense early in the first match by focusing on its serves.
“Against a team like St. John’s, you got to be in the game,” said head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam. “We wanted to be aggressive about serves because based on the data we have, if they’re out of system, their middle production goes down dramatically.”
Temple clinched the first set on a kill by junior right side hitter Peyton Boyd assisted by junior setter Tyler Lindgren after the teams changed leads multiple times.
Boyd finished with eight kills, three digs and 9.5 points while Lindgren finished with two kills, 37 assists and 3.5 points.
Junior outside hitter Miray Bolukbasi finished with a team-leading 14 kills with assistance from junior outside hitter Gem Grimshaw, who recorded 10 kills, 10 digs and one assist.
The Owls closed out the third match by scoring four of the last five points, with the final point coming on an attack error by Saint John’s.
Junior outside hitter Efrosini Alexakou recorded a team-high 13 kills and 14 points for the Red Storm.
The Owls will hit the road for the first time for their next matchup. The way Temple stays at hotels and practices on the road will be different this season but they are excited about the challenge, Ganesharatnam said.
“We’re almost excited to be on the road, the excitement of starting conference play and playing some conference opponents is bigger than the fear,” Ganesharatnam added
Temple’s next game is against Southern Florida (5-0, 0-0 The American) on Feb. 12 at 1 p.m.
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