The Temple Owls moved to 2-0 Saturday, defeating the UConn Huskies 3-1, with set scores of 25-17, 23-25, 24-26, 19-25 respectively. The score doesn’t tell the whole story however, with each set being very competitive.
Temple as a team had 55 kills to UConn’s 48. With Miray Bolukbasi leading the Owls with a very impressive 24.5 points. Caylee Parker lead the Huskies with 17.5. Falanika Danielson the Owls libero had an outstanding 25 digs after missing the opening match against Morgan State. UConn’s Libero Aset Baker-Falealilli was equally as impressive with 25 digs of her own. Finally, in assists, the Huskies’ Madi Whitmire had 34 but fell well short of the Owl’s Nikii Shimano with an astounding 43.
The star of today’s game, Miray Bolukbasi, who finished 24.5 points and 8 digs. Volleyball Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam this to say about her performance,
“This isn’t an accident that [Bolukbasi] performed so well. She is working very hard. She needs to be a bit better and more consistent with her serving but she knows that and is working really hard on it. If Miray stays consistent like she did today she could be the team’s best player.”
Coach Bakeer also said this about the Owl’s freshman libero Aset Baker-Falealilli,
“I am glad she is back on the court and this is why. UConn is a tough team and she really helped us out today. She very well could be the best libero in the conference this year.”
Five of the six players in Temple’s starting 6 are Freshmen.
“Today we had 5 freshmen in the lineup and they all got into a rhythm great and played really well. High above my expectations.”
The Owls are back in action next Saturday, February 6th at 3:00 at home against St Johns.
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