Owls win conference home opener against Green Wave

Temple University Volleyball (7-7,1-2 American Athletic Conference) won 3-2 in a five set match against Tulane University (6-9, 0-3 American) in their third conference game of the season on Friday night at McGonigle Hall. After losing the second and third sets, the Owls were able to bounce back with victories in the fourth and fifth sets.

KEY PLAYS

• Blocks by freshman middle blocker Samantha Jo Mikosky and sophomore outside hitter Taylor Davenport helped the Owls pull away with the first set win 26-24.
• A service ace by Green Waves’ freshman Ava Derbes started a 5-1 run by Tulane, allowing them to win the second set 25-21.
• Davenport committed three consecutive service errors in the third set, giving Tulane an early 8-5 lead.
• Back-to-back errors by Owls’ junior outside hitter Jelena Prolic gave the third set win to Tulane 26-24.
• A service ace by freshman libero Nalani McBride gave the Owls the lead in the fourth set 6-5.
• Temple came back after being down 7-4 in the fifth and final set on a service ace by junior defensive specialist Nikki Shimao to give them an 11-8 lead.
• Davenport gave the Owls the win with a kill in the final set. 

THE NUMBERS

• Temple is 5-0 in five set matches this season and the Owls have tied their win total from last season at seven. 
• The Owls had eight service aces and hit .208 percent in five sets.
• Davenport led both teams with 24 kills despite not starting for the second game in a row. She also led both teams with 73 attack attempts.
• Mikosky finished in a tie with Green Wave freshman Sabrina Skyers with five blocks.

WORDS FROM COACH

“We were on the road for a month and it was just so nice to be back here at McGonigle,” said Owls head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. “Of course to start our home slate with a conference win, we are thrilled with that.”

WORDS FROM THE TEAM

“It was really nice to have our home crowd especially being away for four weeks,” said redshirt senior Peyton Boyd. “It’s a mentality that we are always going to fight no matter what team we face.” 

“We’re going to take the good things and get feedback from our mistakes and take it to the next game,” said sophomore Magdelena Rogalska. “We always feel support from Temple fans, it feels really good to play at home.” 

ON TAP

The Owls will look to build off the win in their next match when they take on the University of Houston (12-2, 3-0 American) on Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. at McGonigle Hall.