Temple Volleyball (4-0, 0-0 American Athletic Conference) stormed the floor at McGonigle Hall tonight after coming out with the 3-0 win against Delaware State (2-2, 0-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference). The Owls start the season 4-0 for the first time since 2020.
This is the first time the Owls have started the season winning 12 consecutive sets since 1976, when teams only needed two sets to win a game.
Temple outside hitter Taylor Davenport, who became the first Temple player to win AAC Player of the Week since 2019, led the way with 12 kills. Right-side hitter Avery Luoma added 11. The Owls combined for 13 blocks and 56 digs on defense, which pushed them to their fourth-straight win.
“This has been exactly what we needed,” said second-year Temple head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. “It wasn’t pretty, but we still found a way to win. So that’s the biggest deal of all: learning that we can have those moments and we can learn and grow through them and be resilient and still find ways to win.”
Temple jumped out to a 12-5 lead in set one after an ace by Luoma. Delaware State struggled to contain Temple’s offense through the first set, and Temple cruised to a 25-11 set one victory.
In set two, Temple opened up with back-to-back aces from outside hitter Jelena Prolic. Eventually, Delaware State came back from the break with a better defensive game plan and forced an error by Prolic to extend its lead to 12-8.
However, Temple bounced right back, going on a 5-0 run to take the lead at 14-12. Temple did not lose the lead and, after a rally to get match point, Temple won the second set 25-22, taking a 2-0 lead in the game.
Temple started set three with five straight points and blocked multiple kill attempts. Despite a 7-0 run for Delaware State, Temple was looking to put away the game and rattled off an 8-0 run to take an 18-10 lead. Temple took the last set of the match 25-21, continuing its streak of winning 12 straight sets.
Davenport reveled in the history this team has already accomplished but was adamant about there being more to do.
“Our work is just beginning,” Davenport said. “I’m really excited for the way we started. This has been one of the best starts in a while, but it’s not the whole season. So our work has just begun. We have a lot to do, but we can still celebrate what we’ve done.”
The Owls look to continue their hot streak against Dartmouth (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) in the Morgan State/Townson Tournament on Sept. 1 at 1 p.m.
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