Temple Volleyball Defeats Houston For Second Time This Season

The Temple Owls swept the Houston Cougars Friday to defeat the Cougars for the second time this season.

The win is the Owls fifth straight, plus ninth straight victory on the road.

The Owls played with shear dominance, holding the Houston offense to hitting just .139. The Owls also out dug the Cougars 59-57 as well.

The Owls would start off slow in the first set as they would allow Houston to take an early 8-4 lead. Temple would eventually bounce back as they would even the set at 14. The Owls would continue their run as they would outscore Houston 7-1 to take a 21-15 lead, but after the Owls run, Houston would score six straight points to tie the set. The rest of the set would be back and forth including three ties, one of which would even the set at 25. The Owls would eventually win the set 27-25 after a kill from Owls junior Irem Asci, and a Houston attack error.

In the second set, the Owls would start off by taking a 5-2 lead before the Cougars would cut the lead to just 6-5. The Owls would control most of the set; they would go on a 6-2 run later in the set that would give them a 20-16 lead. The Cougars would then respond by scoring 5 unanswered points to go up 21-20 before a service error would allow the Owls to tie the set at 21. Temple would then outscore Houston 4-1 to end the set at 25-22.

The third and final set would be dominated by the Owls as Temple would defeat Houston 25-15. The Owls would never give up a lead in the set as Temple, after the Cougars made it a 12-10 score, would go on a 10-2 run to open up a 22-12 lead. The Owls would trade a pair of kills down the stretch with Houston before Temple senior Tyler Davis would win the set on a kill.

The Owls would see great production from a string of players including the Owls lead scorer junior Irem Asci who had 14 kills, junior Izzy Rapacz who had 11 digs, and junior Kyra Coundourides who had 26 assists.

The win would improve the Owls to 10-3 in the conference play, and 17-6 overall.

The Owls next match is Sunday at 12:00 in New Orleans against the Tulane Green Wave. The Owls look for retribution against Tulane for 3-2 loss earlier in the year.