Temple traveled to Oklahoma to face Tulsa in search of its first conference victory of the season. After tasting defeat in its first conference matchup in the 3-1 loss to Wichita State on Sept. 27, the Owls were looking to bounce back before returning home.
Tulsa has proven to be a tricky matchup for the Owls, winning the previous nine matchups. Temple’s last win against Tulsa came all the way back in 2017 when the Owls were able to get a 3-2 victory in Oklahoma. The streak continued Sunday when the Golden Hurricane denied the Owls a set.
Temple (6-8, 0-2 American Athletic Conference) was swept by Tulsa (10-4, 2-0 AAC) 3-0 Sunday afternoon. The Owls faltered in the second set after keeping the first set close. Temple found a spark in the third set, nearly putting together an impressive comeback but it was not enough to force a fourth set.
The first set was competitive, with both teams exchanging the lead throughout. Tulsa eventually pulled away late in the set after going on a 3-0 run to take the lead at 20-17. The Owls tried to battle back into the set, but Tulsa’s aggressive offense was too much. The Golden Hurricane took a commanding 1-0 lead, winning the first set 25-21.
Temple has been plagued by miscues throughout the season and this match was much of the same. In the opening set, the Owls had seven errors whereas Tulsa only had three.
Going into the second set, Temple’s energy dropped off while Tulsa continued to thrive. A 3-0 Tulsa run to tie the score at 8-8 sparked enough momentum to take control of the set. From there, the Golden Hurricanes continued to dominate going on an 11-2 run to win the set 25-14. Once again Temple lost the error battle 8-2 as Tulsa’s impressive defense persisted.
Tulsa looked to put Temple’s hopes of getting its first conference win to bed in the third set. An assertive 8-1 start in the third set was exactly what Tulsa was looking for, but Temple refused to go down without a fight.
Things were looking gloomy for the Owls as they were down seven and facing a sweep. Head coach Linda Hampton-Keith called a timeout hoping to slow down Tulsa’s momentum and get the Owls back in the game. The plan worked and following the timeout Temple went on a 7-1 run, getting the set within one.
The set was deadlocked with both sides trading points. Temple broke away and took the lead for the first time in the third set after an impressive 4-0 run which forced Tulsa head coach Lauren Ramatowski to call her first timeout of the afternoon.
The timeout accomplished just what Tulsa was looking for and the Golden Hurricanes came out on fire, tying the set up 20-20 and shifting the momentum in their direction. The shift proved to be too much for the Owls as Tulsa would go on a 7-3 run winning the set 25-23 and securing the sweep.
Temple’s errors were costly throughout the match, ending up with 27 to Tulsa’s 12. Aside from the errors, Tusla simply outperformed the Owls. The Golden Hurricanes finished with more digs, blocks and a higher hitting percentage than the Owls.
While outside hitter Taylor Davenport led the Owls in kills with 14, she also led the team in errors with eight. Right-side hitter Avery Luoma put up an impressive statline recording 10 digs, two kills, two blocks and two assists, but it wasn’t enough to get the victory.
Temple looks ahead to its first home conference match of the season when they host South Florida (6-7, 2-0 AAC) on Oct. 4 at 6 p.m.
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