Temple University women’s volleyball (6-24, 2-17 The American Athletic Conference) broke its 10-game losing streak on Nov. 21, defeating the University of South Florida 3-1. However, the Owls couldn’t continue their winning streak, as they were shut out 3-0 against the University of Cincinnati (19-9, 14-6 The American) on Friday afternoon.
During their win against the Bulls, the Owls were smart on defense, which was a key factor to their win. The Owls ended the game with 26 blocks, compared to USF’s 10 blocks.
The communication and tone of the team also helped Temple come out on top against USF. Everyone played a role in keeping the energy up and pushing ahead, unlike in Friday’s match against Cincinnati.
The Bearcats played strong on defense by executing on their blocking and hitting. Meanwhile, Temple struggled to get under the ball and pass to the setters to effectively establish its offense.
The Bearcats took an early 14-2 lead in the first set of Friday’s match. Although Temple tried to close the gap late in the set, the Bearcats continued with their big blocks on defense and strong hits down the side and cross court, giving them a 25-14 win.
Temple started to pick up its offensive play in the second set, when redshirt-junior right side hitter Peyton Boyd made a kill, giving the Owls a 4-1 lead.
However, Cincinnati came back with its defense and blocking, allowing them to tie up the match 7-7. Although the Owls set up plays well, they were hitting wide, which allowed Cincinnati to block the outside hitters for most of the game.
The Owls’ defense struggled to respond to the Bearcats’ placement and hitting, which helped lead Cincinnati to a 25-19 victory.
During the third and final set, the Owls played longer rallies, but started to lose momentum when they weren’t able to win the point. This evidently disappointed the team, contributing to their downfall.
As the second half of the third set approached, Cincinnati had the upper hand in scoring, and ultimately won the set 25-13.
Graduate student outside hitter Miray Bolukbasi led the Owls in kills with seven. Freshman outside hitter Leonie Freytag played in two sets and served up four kills.
Temple will wrap up its 2021 season against East Carolina University (9-19, 5-14 The American) on Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. in McGonigle Hall.
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