Tulane University
Temple
Volleyball Falls In Three To American Foe Temple
Nov 26, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
Tulane/Temple Box Score In PDF Format 
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Sophomore Tea Juric had 10 kills and the duo of freshman Sarah Ray and sophomore Sarah Strasner added six apiece, but it was not enough as the Tulane University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to American Athletic Conference foe Temple on Wednesday evening at Pearson McGonigle Hall.
The Owls led in every statistical category and none was more lopsided than attack percentage as Temple hit .422 with 45 kills and just seven errors on 90 attempts while the Green Wave connected at a .062 clip with 27 kills and 21 errors in 96 swings. As a result, the Green Wave fell in straight sets - 25-11, 25-15, 25-14 - to drop to 5-26 on the year and 3-16 in conference play. Temple, meanwhile, improved to 23-8 overall and 16-3 in American action.
"Temple is a good team and we had to play them at home, but we didn't play very well today," Tulane head coach Sinisa Momic said. "We were lacking in our passing, we didn't run the offense very efficiently and we weren't able to score points consistently. Temple controlled the ball in all three contacts and was scoring well against us.
"It's been a tough year. The young players have learned a lot since we started but with the inexperience and some injuries along the way, we haven't developed much consistency. We have one more match to go and we're going to look to put everything together and end the year on a positive note."
Sophomore libero Makenzie Frieden paced the Green Wave defense with nine digs and sophomore setter Ally Frank had 23 of the team's 25 assists. Strasner, meanwhile, led Tulane with four blocks (2 solo, 2 assists) while Frank and senior middle blocker Anna Wruck added two apiece.
Tulane scored the first point of the match on a Strasner kill, but Temple rattled off five in a row to take a 5-1 lead it would not relinquish. The Owls stretched the advantage to 10 at 15-5 and outscored the Green Wave the rest of the way, 10-6, to take the opening set.
It was the other way around in set No. 2 as Temple scored the opening point before the Wave rolled out to a 6-2 lead. Tulane held a four-point lead again at 8-4 before the Owls used a 4-0 run to tie the set and the two teams sat deadlocked at 13-all nine serves later. From there, Temple scored eight unanswered to take a commanding 21-13 lead and cruised to a 10-point win.
The momentum of Temple's late-set rally carried over into what proved to be the final frame as the Owls soared out to a 6-1 lead and never led by fewer than three the rest of the way. Temple held a seven-point edge at 20-13 and quieted any talk of a Green Wave come-back attempt with a 5-1 run over the final six serves to account for the final score.
Dara Peric was one of two Temple players to post double-figure kill totals with 12 while Kirsten Overton chipped in with 10. Peric completed a double-double with 10 dig, as well as two aces and a pair of blocks, to go with her kill totals, and Alyssa Drachslin led the Owls' defense with 12 digs. Jennifer Iacobini led the team with a match-high six blocks (all assists) and Sandra Sydlik had 42 of the team's 44 assists.
The Green Wave return to action on Friday, Nov. 28, when they close out the 2014 season with a 6 p.m. showdown against UConn in Storrs, Conn. Live stats for that match are available for free on-line at www.TulaneGreenWave.com via GameTracker.
