It all comes down to tonight’s matchup against Miami (OH) for the Owls.
Temple is one win away from their second consecutive tournament championship of the season after taking down Indiana State 3-1 Saturday afternoon. They defeated Chicago State in straight sets Friday night to open the Miami (OH) Invitational.
Offense was again the key for the young squad as they won 25-20, 20-25, 25-27, and 25-15.
Led by junior outside hitter Elyse Burkert’s 19 kills and 11 digs–her fifth straight double-double–the Owls had a .254 hitting percentage. It was a similar scene as the previous match against the Cougars, except this time the offense committed 20 hitting errors against five the previous night.
Temple originally trailed 9-3 to open the match, but a 6-1 rally got them to within striking distance. They finally tied the score 20-20 before taking the lead off four points by junior outside hitter Gabriella Matautia- a kill, block and two aces.
The second set was closer, the Owls never led by more than four points. Indiana State closed out the final three points thanks to two hitting errors by Burkert and an ace.
Burkert and company responded in the third set, however. After a Burkert hitting error tied the score at 8-8 the Owls jumped out to an 11-3 run before clinching the set thanks to a service error by the Sycamores.
The final set was much of the same. Temple led the entire set, as the closest Indiana State could get was to 9-10 before Burkert and Matautia took control, finishing off the match.
The win brings the Owls to 6-3 on the season, while dropping the Sycamores to 1-8.
Burkert was the only player to record a double-double in the match. She also tallied 16 kills on 27 attempts and 11 digs Friday night, making a strong case for tournament MVP.
Matuatia reached 13 kills along with three aces while senior outside hitter Jingyu Zhang hit .320 with 12 kills of her own. Sophomore setter Tiffany Connatser had another solid match with 49 assists, an ace and eight digs.
Senior libero Chelsea Tupuola led the match with 20 digs, six more than any other player.
Overall the Owls hit .254 for the match, their third consecutive match hitting at least .200. The Sycamores were held to .148 on 135 attempts.
Temple’s next match is Saturday night against Miami (OH) who is also 2-0 in the tournament. The RedHawks won 3-2 over Indiana State Friday night and cruised in straight sets over Chicago State. The winner takes home the Miami (OH) Invitational title.
-Jake Adams
