American releases conference pairings

Posted on by

The American Athletic Conference announced its conference pairings today, determining the Owls’ conference slate for the upcoming 2014-15 season.

The announcement also introduced new members East Carolina University, Tulane University and the University of Tulsa. Despite the added teams, The American will maintain its 18-game conference schedule, concluding that instead of expanding the schedule, each team will instead face eight of its 10 conference foes twice and the remaining two teams once.

This decision led to the determination that Temple will face Houston and Memphis once and the remaining eight twice, as they did last year.  The Owls will host Houston and play in Memphis.

The Owls lost leading scorer Dalton Pepper to graduation as well as leading rebounder and defensive anchor Anthony Lee to Ohio State. Temple will instead look to other options, such as a bona fide starter in junior guard Will Cummings and a proven sixth man in junior guard Quenton DeCosey to help improve their 4-14 conference record last year.

Cummings, a junior who averaged 34.4 minutes per game, will be the team’s leading returning scorer, averaging 16.8 points per game on 45 percent shooting.

The conference championship tournament will be held May 12 through May 15 at The XL Central in Hartford, CT.

American commissioner Mike Aresco said the decision to hold the tournament on a weekend would help with traveling fans and ESPN coverage, which could potentially improve TV ratings and generate more revenue for the conference.

-EJ Smith

Owls release road-heavy schedule

Posted on by

Temple women’s soccer released their 2014 schedule for the upcoming fall season Tuesday.

The Owls begin their campaign Aug.18th versus Lafayette College at home in Ambler, a team they played to a scoreless draw last season.

Three of the first four games will be at Ambler, where Temple was 2-6 in a 2013 season that saw the Owls finish 6-12-1 overall.

After that stretch, the Owls will hit the road for eight consecutive road matches, including the Cornell Tournament in mid-September.  It’s a trend that will be present throughout the fall, as Temple will play 13 of its 20 games on the road.  The Owls will also never play more than two home matches in a row.
That being said, three matches will be in Philadelphia against Big 5 schools.  That, along with the quality of the schedule, has coach Seamus O’Connor in an optimistic mood.
“I am very happy with the quality and variety of playing styles we will face in our 2014 non-conference schedule,” O’Connor said in an interview with Owlsports.com. “Having three games against other Philadelphia schools is great preparation for the intensity we will face in our American Athletic Conference games.”
That conference schedule will start at Cincinnati on Sep. 25th, and will continue through the end of the season, excluding a road fixture at Delaware State University on Oct. 22nd.
-Steve Bohnel

Volleyball releases schedule

Posted on by

When volleyball kicks off its recently released schedule, the Owls will be greeted with a potent slate of contests in the early going.

The team will kick off action with four tournaments in a month-long span before it sees American Athletic Conference competition.

The Owls will open the season at Syracuse University with the Syracuse Invitational, in which they’ll play Niagara and Syracuse on August 30, followed by Delaware State the following day.

The Owls will then return to friendly confines September 5 and 6, as they host the Temple Invitational with bouts against the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Princeton and Holy Cross.

The team will then head north to the LIU Brooklyn Invitational on September 12 , playing Northern Kentucky, hosts LIU-Brooklyn and Boston College. The last of the four tournaments is the annual Big 5 Tournament, in which the Owls will take on familiar foes in La Salle, Villanova and Penn September 19 and 20.

After an even 9-9 finish in conference play last season, Temple will open up its American schedule with four straight road matches against Connecticut, newly-added East Carolina, Central Florida and South Florida.

The Owls’ conference home opener is October 10 against Cincinnati.  The season will conclude with a home match on November 28 against Houston.

-Greg Frank

Merritt among offseason departures

Posted on by

In an interview with The Temple News, redshirt sophomore guard Monaye Merritt confirmed that she has officially transferred from Temple University and will attend Nova Southeastern University in the upcoming fall semester.

“[Nova Southeastern] is a winning program,” Merritt said. “There’s a slot immediately for me to come and play. My major [of Kinesiology] there is really good. When I went down there, I was able to be myself and it felt natural.”

The Philadelphia native from Friends’ Central High School is now the fourth Owl from the 2013-14 roster to leave the program and the seventh departing player in the last two seasons. Rateska Brown, Jacquilyn Jackson, May Dayan, Leah Horton, Meghan Roxas and Sally Kabengano complete the list of non-returning Temple players between the 2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons.

By transferring to a Division II program in Nova Southeastern, Merritt will have the opportunity to play immediately in the upcoming season and she will spend her remaining two years of eligibility with the Sharks.

Serving as the backup point guard in 20 games for the Owls, Merritt averaged 3.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game last season, playing in nearly 15 minutes each contest. In a home loss to a nationally ranked Louisville Cardinals team, Merritt played a career game in place of starting guard Feyonda Fitzgerald, recording a career-high 14 points and adding five assists, five rebounds and four steals in 24 minutes.

White says he will return next season

Posted on by

Gavin White said on Monday night that he will return for another season this fall, his 35th with the program.

The longtime coach, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease and has been plagued by knee problems this year, is scheduled to have his deep brain stimulator adjusted on on May 13.

The brain stimulator was last adjusted three years ago, when it was installed in his brain. This time around, the adjustment will increase the amount of electrodes that enters his brain.

“It may improve things, my walk, my attitude, a lot of things so we will see,” White said.

Danielle Nelson can be reached at danielle.nelson@temple.edu or on Twitter @Dan_Nels.

Field hockey announces 2014 schedule

Posted on by

Temple will be opening its season at the training site of the USA National Team.

Going into the team’s second year as members of the Big East Conference, 10th year coach Amanda Janney has announced the Owls’ schedule for the fall.

Temple will open up with the Conference Cup Tournament at The Spooky Nook in Lancaster, Pa., on Aug. 29. The Owls will face Northeastern and the University of Massachussets during the opening weekend, and then go on the road to take on Rutgers and Delaware the following weekend.

Temple will return to Geasey Field for its home opener against Delaware on Sept. 12.

The Owls will begin Big East play on Oct. 3 at Providence and will have conference match-ups against Villanova (Oct. 10), Old Dominion (Oct. 17), Georgetown (Oct. 24) and Connecticut (Nov. 1) as well. The games against Villanova and UConn are at home.

Temple finished 14-6 overall and 4-3 in the Big East last season. The Owls were 17th in the NCAA’s RPI rankings and fell just short of an NCAA tournament berth after losing 3-0 to UConn – the eventual Big East and NCAA Champions – in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.

“We have seen success with our philosophy of scheduling the best teams to prepare our team for conference play,” Janney said in a press release.

The Owls will face eight ranked teams from 2013 this upcoming season, which include three of last year’s Final Four teams: Duke (away on Sept. 7), Maryland (away on Sept. 14) and UConn (home on Nov. 1).

After two days, Matthews tied for sixth in conference championship

Posted on by

After two days of competition, sophomore Brandon Matthews is tied for sixth overall at the 2014 American Athletic Conference Championships.

On the first day of competition Matthews shot a two-over 73, which placed him 13th overall out of 151 golfers. He started strong, as he was one among the top five golfers. But Matthews shot three over on his final four holes. He responded with a strong outing on Monday, shooting a one-under 70. He was one of seven golfers to break par on what was a windy day in Palm Harbor, Fla.

As a team, the Owls are currently in ninth place out of the 10-team field, 44 shots behind the leader – Central Florida. The event features a strong field, as five teams participating are currently ranked in the Top 50.

Junior Matt Teesdale is tied for 30th after shooting a three-over 74 on Sunday and a six-over 77 on Monday.  Senior Matt Crescenzo is tied for 42nd after posting a six-over 77 on Sunday and a 10-over 81 on Monday. Freshman Evan Notaro and junior Mike Amole are 49th and 50th overall, respectively.

The Owls tee off Tuesday at 8:20 am.

Macauley signs WNBA contract

Posted on by

Victoria Macauley, who played at Temple from 2009-13, signed a training camp contract with the Indiana Fever.

The center is fourth in career blocks and ninth in career rebounds for the Owls. She played for Lavezzini Parma in Serie A1 in Italy last season, where she averaged 15.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

Macauley’s contract does not guarantee her a spot on the team. Should she make the team, she will become the fourth former Owl to play in the WNBA.

Postseason hunt continues for lacrosse

Posted on by

The Owls (3-3 Big East Conference) are still vying for a spot in the Big East tournament, and them clinching a spot will come down to the very end.

Louisville (6-0 Big East) and Georgetown (5-1 Big East) already have the No.1 and No. 2 seeds locked up, while Connecticut (4-2 Big East) has a spot in the tournament secured. The Huskies, however, still have to see whether they’ll be the No. 3 or No. 4 seed.

This leaves Temple in in a fight for the final spot with Villanova (3-3 Big East) and Rutgers (2-4 Big East).

The Owls will play Rutgers on Friday night, and Villanova will play UConn the next day.

If Temple wins and Villanova loses, the Owls are in. The opposite result sends the Wildcats to the tournament instead.

Any other scenario will put Temple and Villanova in a three-team tie with either UConn or Rutgers.

Should Temple and Villanova both lose their regular season finales, they will be tied with Rutgers for fourth in the Big East, with each team holding a 3-4 record.

All three teams lost to Louisville, Georgetown and UConn, and beat Marquette and Cincinnati. As a result, the tiebreaker will be determined by goal differential. The numbers aren’t set just yet, so the differentials won’t be calculated until both games are played.

If Temple and Villanova both win their final games, it puts them in a three-way tie with UConn for the third seed.  In this scenario, all three teams would be 1-1 against each other. Villanova lost to Temple but would have beaten UConn, Temple lost to UConn but beat Villanova, and UConn beat Temple but lost to Villanova.

The tiebreaker would once again go to scoring differential. In instances such as Temple’s 19-3 win over Cincinnati on April 13, only a maximum of seven goals would count towards the differential.

Through the first six conference games for each team, UConn is plus-9, Rutgers is minus-3, and Temple and Villanova are each minus-7.

Rutgers would be eliminated in this situation, giving UConn the three seed and leaving Temple and Villanova in a head-to-head tiebreaker for the fourth seed. Because the Owls beat the Wildcats back on April 5, they would gain the advantage in the tiebreaker and clinch the fourth seed.

The Owls’ regular season finale at Rutgers starts at 7 p.m. on Friday night, and Villanova’s last game at UConn will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Novices impress at Knecht Cup with grand finals appearance

Posted on by

Before the novices put their oars in the water on Sunday, they celebrated in the form of a talent show on Mercer Lake in New Jersey.

The Owls had a lot to be happy about as they made the grand finals in their first appearance at the Knecht Cup.

Among the 28 teams that competed in Novice 4 races over the weekend, the Owls finished sixth overall, behind conference rivals Southern Methodist and Tulsa, in Sunday’s grand finals with a time of 8:41 seconds.

Led by coxswain Nicole Barth, the third Varsity 8 boat also placed sixth overall in Sunday’s grand finals.

In the Novice 8 boat, the Owls crossed the finish line in fourth place in a time of 7:34.

In a final that featured some of Philadelphia’s own rowing teams, the Varsity 4 boat secured a third place finish in the petite finals behind Drexel and Villanova but just ahead of Philadelphia University in a time of 8:12.

Although coach Rebecca Grzybowski said the Varsity 8 boats were disappointed in their performance over the weekend, the Varsity 8 “A” boat rowed to a fifth place finish in the third finals, while the second Varsity 8 boat placed fourth in the third finals on Sunday.

The Owls will next compete against Bucknell, West Virginia and Buffalo on Saturday in Lewisberry, Pa.