Senior setter Sandra Sydlik reached 3,000 assists in her career Friday night in New Orleans, Louisiana as Temple lost to Tulane 3-1.
“You’d rather have that win than anything else,” Ganesharatnam said. “I didn’t congratulate her during the game or after the game.”
After dropping the first set 25-23, Temple (17-8, 8-5 American Athletic Conference) took a 22-17 lead against Tulane, eventually taking the second set 25-17. On the next play, Sandra Sydlik set the ball to sophomore middle blocker Janine Simmons who scored the kill.
On the play, the Munster, Germany native earned 3,000 career assists, a milestone in collegiate volleyball. Sydlik moved to No.6 in all-time assists for Temple with 3,022 in the game. Heidi Lombardo is ranked No. 1 with 5,152 from 1993-1996.
While Sydlik continued to add to her accomplishments in the third set, Temple struggled, losing the set 25-22. In the fourth set, the last ranking team in the American Athletic Conference, Tulane defeated the Owls 25-21 to take the game.
“We are right there like we were before, and it is the same thing I have been saying all year, this is a really tough conference,” Ganesharatnam said. “People forget that just because we finished tied for second last year, that we are going to get wins again. It is not going to work that way,”
Sydlik had 45 assists in Friday night’s loss. As a team Temple hit 13.3 percent.
The Owls’ loss comes after beating Tulane 3-1in their first matchup of the season Oct. 25 inside McGonigle Hall.
“I thought Tulane did a really good job blocking,” Ganesharatnam said. “I think if you look at the numbers, they executed well and they played really scrappy defense.”
With seven games remaining in the season, Ganesharatnam is not worried about individual accomplishments, but conference wins. The Owls resume play Sunday afternoon to meet the Houston Cougars in Texas, a team who beat Temple 3-2 Oct. 23.
“There is a bunch of stuff we can do better,” Ganesharatnam said. “We can analyze that, and hopefully we can work on that in the practice we have tomorrow and see if we can do better against Houston.”
Connor Northrup can be reached connor.northrup@temple.edu.
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