Owls finish 1-2 in Tiger Invitational

Temple University volleyball fell short against Norfolk State University and Towson University, but won 3-0 against Lehigh University.

Gem Grimshaw, a junior outside hitter, leaps to hit the ball over the net during the Owls' match against Long Island University on Sept. 4. | AMBER RITSON / FILE

Temple University volleyball (3-5, 0-0 The American Athletic Conference) participated in their second-to-last regular season tournament in Towson, Maryland this weekend. 

The Owls lost 3-1 against Norfolk State University (3-4-1, 0-0 Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference) on Friday afternoon, fell 3-0 to Towson University (11-0, 0-0 Colonial Athletic Association) Saturday morning and defeated Lehigh University (2-7, 0-0 Patriot League Conference) in a 3-0 clean sweep Saturday evening.

After their loss Friday, the Owls reviewed the film of the game to prepare for the rest of the tournament, said head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam.

“The main thing for me was the way we centered ourselves,” Ganesharatnam said. “I thought we could have done a much better job of body language, the way we competed, and that’s something we really addressed.”

Temple played strong on offense, especially when it came down to serve receive. 

In Friday’s match, junior outside hitter Gem Grimshaw led the team with 18 kills and eight digs, finishing with match honors. Graduate student outside hitter Katerina Papazoglou served up 10 kills and 13 assists. 

Grimshaw was consistent in her movement on Saturday and led the team with 10 digs, eight kills and three aces in their match against Towson. For the Owls’ match against Lehigh, Grimshaw had 12 kills and 6 digs. 

“I think she played really, really good on serve receive, defense and offense for us, especially against Lehigh,” Ganesharatnam said. “She is obviously somebody we expect to do well whenever we play and she has a lot of responsibility, and I thought she was doing a really good job today.”

The Owls will play in their last tournament of the regular season, the City Classic, next weekend starting Friday Sep. 17 at 5:30 p.m. against Villanova University (6-3, 0-0 The Big East Conference). 

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