Owls lose eighth conference game of the season

Temple University Volleyball (8-13, 2-8 The American Athletic Conference) lost 3-2 in a five-set match against the University of Memphis (14-7, 7-2 The American) in their 10th conference game of the season on Sunday afternoon at McGonigle Hall. After taking a 2-1 lead in the first three sets, the Owls fell in the final two sets and lost a very close match to the tigers.

KEY PLAYS

• Back to back service aces by junior setter Loren Robertson gave the Tigers the momentum to close the first set 25-20.
• A service ace by redshirt senior right-side hitter Peyton Boyd ignited Temple to come back and win the second set 25-19, ending on a Boyd spike for a kill. 
• With Temple down 21-20, kills by sophomore outside hitter Taylor Davenport and junior outside hitter Jelena Prolic put Temple ahead in the final plays of the third set to win it 25-23.
• Boyd put Temple ahead 24-23 in the fourth set, then Temple committed back-to-back errors giving Memphis the lead. After back-to-back kills by graduate student middle hitter Miaya Smith, the Tigers would win the fourth set 27-25 to tie the game 2-2.
• The Owls came back from down 8-4 in the final set to bring the score to 11-11. Memphis would go on another run with sophomore right-side hitter Jasmyn Tate who ended the game with a kill to the back row to win the set 15-12 and close the game 3-2.

THE NUMBERS

• Despite losing, Davenport and Prolic led the game with 22 kills each. 
• Peyton Boyd also contributed with 20 kills, meaning three Temple players ended the game with at least 20 kills. 
• Memphis senior middle blocker Kate Bass led the game with five blocks.
• Memphis hit .236 percent and Temple hit .228 percent for the match.
• The Owls fall to 2-8 in conference play this season after winning six non-conference games to start the year.

The Owls opened the season 6-5 against non-conference opponents and looked to be on pace for a promising season, however with Temple playing against all conference opponents at least once they have only managed to pull away with two wins. 

This is Temple coach Linda Hampton-Keith’s first time coaching in this conference, and she now has an idea of what adjustments the team might need to make as they face conference opponents once again.

ON TAP

The Owls will look to come back stronger in their next game against The University of Houston (18-2, 9-0 American), who have not lost to a conference opponent yet, at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28.