Owls suffer first five-set defeat to Pirates

Sophomore libero Falanika Danielson had a historic night, recording her 1,000th career kill early in the third set of Temple Volleyball’s (7-9,1-4 American Athletic Conference) 3-2 loss against East Carolina University (7-10 2-3 American) on Wednesday at McGonigle Hall. The Owls, who are now 1-4 in conference play this season, split the first two sets 1-1 and collapsed in the third set, losing their first five-set match this season. 

KEY PLAYS

• A service ace from Angeles Alderete gave the Pirates a 14-8 lead and the momentum they needed to close the first set 25-21. 
• After a kill by sophomore outside hitter Taylor Davenport, Temple went on a 7-3 run, winning the second set 25-18.
• Danielson recorded her eighth dig of the night in the third set which Temple won 12-5. This gave her 1,000 digs for her career and made her the first Owl since Alyssa Drachslin in 2014 to reach the mark.
• Following a service ace by junior outside hitter Jelena Prolic, Temple would squander an 11-2 lead, allowing ECU to take an 18-17 lead for the first time in the third set. 
• The Pirates scored five straight to win the third set 25-19. 
• Temple was outscored 23-8 in the third set after taking the 11-2 lead. 
• A kill by Prolic in the fourth set gave Temple a 21-15 lead 
• Temple went down 9-2 in the fifth set and ultimately lost 15-10.

THE NUMBERS

• Danielson now sits at 1,009 career digs in just her sophomore year. 
• Prolic led both teams with 24 kills for the match.
• Sophomore middle hitter Samantha Jo Mikosky led both teams with six blocks.
• Temple hit .216 percent compared to East Carolina which hit .196 percent.
• Prolic also led in team attack attempts with 66. 

WORDS FROM COACH

“Giving up such a huge lead in set three was demoralizing and we should not have done that,” said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. “We don’t want to rely on having to go to the fifth set if we can help it.” 

WORDS FROM TEAM

“A lot of times we can get wrapped up in what other teams are doing,” said junior middle blocker Kayla Spells. “It’s important we stay in our game and take care of the little things, taking care of small things, getting the pass right, getting the set right, getting our location right so we’re really just focused on playing our game and staying to our strengths.”

“It all came down to mental toughness,” Danielson said. “It really just came down to grit and even though we’re down in our heads mentally we have to find it in ourselves to believe in ourselves. We trust each other but do we trust ourselves” 

ON TAP

The Owls will look to win the close sets in their next game against The University of Cincinnati (3-11, 1-3 American) on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.