Tag Archives: Ganes

Home invite begins with Central Connecticut

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The Owls kick off the Temple Invitational Friday afternoon with their first match against Central Connecticut, looking to win their second home match of the season.

Temple enters the match 7-4 coming off a straight-set sweep over New Jersey Institute of Technology on Wednesday night to kick off an eight-game home stand.

Coach Bakeer Ganes has stressed for several weeks that the offense is trying to get junior outside hitter Gabriella Matautia more involved. Wednesday night she dropped 12 kills against the Highlanders, tying fellow junior outside hitter Elyse Burkert.

Ganes expects a tough match from the Blue Devils, despite their 5-5 record.

“Central Connecticut usually is pretty solid,” he said. “I think it really comes down to what we’re going to do on our side. We really have to take care of our business.”

The match starts at 4 p.m. in McGonigle Hall.

-Jake Adams

Volleyball sets up against Indiana State

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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 begins weekend series

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The volleyball team is off to a 4-3 start this season heading into this weekend’s Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio.

The Owls begin their tournament slate with Chicago State (2-7) Friday evening before taking on Indiana State (1-6) and Miami (Ohio) (1-6) on Saturday.

On paper Temple matches up well against Chicago State, coach Bakeer Ganes said. The squad sports the Atlantic 10 Conference’s best dig rate, with 16.38 per set.

“I think we definitely have the advantage over them on defense,” Ganes said. “I think we move just a little bit better on defense.”

Offensively the Owls have more weapons, led by junior outside hitter Elyse Burkert’s 4.29 kills per set.

Ganes said the Cougars’ veteran depth, despite having several transfers, makes them dangerous.

“To be honest with you I don’t really know much about them because I never played them before,” he said.

Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday.

-Jake Adams

Volleyball named Big 5 tournament champion

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After a draining loss to Villanova in the early game of in the Big 5 tournament on Saturday, the volleyball team defeated La Salle 3-0 in the late game and was named Big 5 tournament champion.

“We know that’s someone that we have to beat,” senior Chelsea Tupuola, who was named tournament MVP, said of La Salle. “Our team has heart, we know that.”

“Because we had such a heartbreaking loss to Villanova, it was really good that we stayed together as a team,” coach Bakeer Ganes said. “We were able to grind it out and beat La Salle in three, because it easily could have gone four, maybe five sets. We were worn out physically and mentally.”

Temple was able to put together runs at crucial points to close out both the first and second sets. In both sets, La Salle took early leads but the Owls were able to respond in both to close each set out, winning the first set 25-22 with a late surge and the second set 25-20.

In the third and final set, Temple wasted no time jumping out to an early lead, and cruised to a 25-12 victory.

“It might have looked easy from here, but it certainly wasn’t down there,” Ganes said. “It was hard work and we knew that going in it was going to be a lot of work”

Tiffany Connaster led the way for the owls with a double-double of 36 assists and 13 digs, while junior Elyse Burkert added 12 kills for the Owls.

“We know La Salle, we played them four times last year, so we’re used to playing them,” Connaster said.

-Kyle Hall and Darius Bartolomei