The Temple Women’s Volleyball team continues to prove that they are one of the top teams in the conference with another weekend sweep. The Owls faced off against SMU and Tulsa, winning both games on the road. The Owls currently sit at an overall record of 16-8, and 12-4 in the conference. The Owls bounced back from the heartbreaking losses against Memphis and Wichita State, with two more wins, to start another win streak. The Owls look to close out the season in late November, with a few matches ahead of them.
Thursday, November 9, 2017, @ SMU, W 3-2
The Owls traveled to Texas, to start an early weekend with an eight o’clock meeting with SMU. The girls trailed early in the game, dropping the first two sets to SMU. The Owls battled all game long, and climbed out of the two set deficit. The Owls took the next three sets in a dominant team performance. The comeback was in large part due to the Owls offense, but the game was very close. The teams traded the lead many times throughout the last three sets, but Temple walked away the victors.
Stellar performances were given by the entire team, as everyone contributed in the comeback win. Izzy Rapacz flirted with a triple-double in this game with 20 digs, 14 kills and eight blocks. Kyra Coundourides again had another double-double with 54 assists and 16 digs. Junior Iva Deak ended with 14 kills while hitting .407 on the night, while Dana Westfield led the team in kills with 15. The great performances by the girls helped lift them out of the early hole, and get the win.
Saturday, November 11, 2017, @ Tulsa, W 3-2
The team looked to carry their momentum over into Saturday night, when they played against Tulsa, in Oklahoma. After a close match on Thursday, the team looked to create a little more breathing room for themselves. The Owls did just that, by getting to a two set lead early on. The women quickly dropped the next two sets and had to gut it out in the final set, in what was another close victory for the Owls. The team moves to 16-8 on the year after that win, and notches their twelfth conference victory.
Once again, a few more Owls with a double-double in this match. Izzy Rapacz, Dara Peric, and Kyra Coundourides all ended the night with a double-double. Rapacz had a career high 21 digs, 12 kills and seven blocks. Peric had a great night with 14 digs and 11 kills. Coundourides had another big game with 53 assists, 15 digs and a pair of blocks. Other notable performances were turned in by Janine Simmons who had six blocks and six kills, and Dana Westfield who had another 15 kill game.
Weekend Star: Kyra Coundourides
Senior Kyra Coundourides has been playing exceptionally well all season, and has led this offense to big wins. Over the weekend, she led the team on a comeback against SMU, and helped the team gain back control against Tulsa. The team played as whole and Kyra was a big part in leading them, and keeping confidence throughout. She totalled for 107 assists and 31 digs in both games, and truly impacted the outcome of both games. So far this season, Coundourides has been a double-double machine.
Looking Ahead
The Owls wrap up their season with two back to back matches against conference opponent, the University of Connecticut. The two teams have not yet faced off, but will see each other twice in the matter of days. The first matchup between the teams comes on November 22, and the second two days later on the 24th. Currently, UCONN sits at 11-17, and 4-12 in the conference. The Owls look to close out the season with two wins against the Huskies. Right now, the Owls sit in third in the AAC, trailing only SMU (13-3) and Wichita State (16-0).
Be the first to comment