Temple University’s volleyball team dropped both of their American Athletic Conference matches last weekend at Pearson McGonigle Hall.
The Owls faced East Carolina on Sunday in their second match of the weekend. The Owls came out with a strong 25-20 first set win, but ECU’s attack in the second and third set propelled them to close out the remaining sets, 25-18, 25-14 and 25-22.
The Owls challenged Cincinnati on Friday in a match that was closer than what the final score indicated. The Bearcats, which received 18 top-25 votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll this past week, defeated the Owls in three sets, 25-18, 25-23 and 28-26.
“It is very easy to think that everything is bad if you don’t have the result you want based off winning and losing,” coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said. “If you look a little deeper there are four freshmen and three sophomores out there that are already performing at a high level … for us consistency will come with time. We just have to worry about improving and continuing to grow our team.”
The Owls had a hitting percentage of .350 in the first set against on Sunday, compared to ECU’s .250. The Owls were convincing early on, jumping out to a 10-3 lead in the first set. Sophomore outside hitter Katerina Papazoglou closed out the set with a kill.
ECU’s attack came alive in the second and third sets. The Bearcats finished with a .414 hitting percentage. The ECU Pirates totaled 16 kills in the second set which led them a 25-18 victory.
The third and fourth set was much of the same for the pirates.
After the match, Ganesharatnam said he was happy with his team’s play. He mentioned the importance of continuing to grow as a team and taking a positive from each match, despite the tough losses.
Freshman outside hitter Miray Bobulski led the Owls with 13 kills, and graduate student Iva Deak added ten.
The Owls faced East Carolina on Sunday in their second match of the weekend. The Owls came out with a strong first set, but ECU’s hot attack in the second and third set eventually propelled them to a 20-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-22 victory.
The Owls will travel to Florida next weekend to play a pair of AAC matches against the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida.
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