Volleyball sets up against Indiana State

Following a convincing 3-0 victory over Chicago State on Friday the Owls have their sights set on the first of their two remaining matchups Saturday in the Miami (OH) Invitational.

Temple takes the court against Indiana State at 1 p.m. looking to improve on its 5-3 record.

The Sycamores enter the game 1-6 after losing to Miami (OH) Friday night. Five of those losses, however, have come in the fifth set.

“I think we can definitely compete with them on offense,” coach Bakeer Ganes said Wednesday. “We just have to be smart about our shot selection.”

Ganes also hopes to get the junior outside hitter Gabriella Matautia more involved after a disappointing Big 5 Tournament performance last weekend.

“I think it was a combination of different things,” Ganes said. “We really didn’t put her in a situation where she could be successful. [She] probably didn’t have the best weekend either, physically.”

-Jake Adams

Volleyball set for Big 5 Tournament

After bouncing back to win the last two games of the South Carolina Invitational last weekend and salvaging a 2-2 record before its return home, the volleyball team will participate in the annual Big 5 Tournament at the Palestra this weekend.
The Owls dropped two out of three in this same tournament last season, losing to Penn 1-3, Villanova 0-3 and beating La Salle 3-1. They will have a chance to play the same three teams, Penn on Friday night at 7 p.m., and Villanova and La Salle Saturday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.
Penn has yet to play a match this season while La Salle is 1-3 with their lone win coming against Niagara. Villanova is 2-1 so far after beating Robert Morris and New Hampshire and losing to Maryland.
Temple started 0-2 but won its last two matches to get to .500. They’ve been led by junior Elyse Burkert, with 54 kills, on offense. She has been aided by sophomore Tiffany Connatser, who leads the team with 123 assists. Senior Chelsea Tupuola and junior Gabriella Matautia have led the defensive effort with 46 and 37 digs, respectively.
-Brandon Stoneburg

Volleyball loses first game of season

With the first set, spike and dig, the 2012 season was under way this afternoon for the Owls’ volleyball team at the South Carolina Gamecock invitational.

South Carolina handed the Owls their first loss of the season in easy fashion. Temple lost in straight sets 25-14, 25-15, 25-18.

Junior Gabriella Matautia led the attack for Temple with 10 kills, while sophomore Tiffany Connatser added 23 assists in the losing effort. Senior Chelsea Tupuola led the team with 12 digs.

The Owls will have another shot at notching their first win later today at 5:30 against East Tennessee State.

-Brandon Stoneburg