University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Temple
UMass Volleyball Drops To Temple, 0-3
October 19, 2001 | Women's Volleyball
Amherst, Mass.- The University of Massachusetts volleyball team fell to visiting Temple University this evening in straight games, 0-3. The loss marks the fourth consecutive defeat for the Minutewomen who have failed to produce a consistent offensive threat since their 3-0 win over George Washington on Oct. 6. Tonight's loss slips the Minutewomen to 9-9 overall and 3-6 in the Atlantic 10. The Owls improve to 14-5 on the season and 6-3 in conference play.
UMass stumbled out of the gates in game one, with eight kills and nine attack errors for a -.037 hitting percentage. Temple was unrelenting on offense, combining for 15 kills and a .478 hitting percentage. The Minutewomen stayed even with the Owls through 5-5 until Temple surged ahead to a 10-point lead at 21-11 behind the hitting of Yun Xu with five kills and Shu Liu with three. UMass was unable to regain the momentum and Temple quickly defeated the Minutewomen 30-16.
In game two, UMass hit a much improved .206 but could not tame the Owl offense which hit for .333. Temple opened play with four straight points to take the early 4-0 lead. The Owls extended the lead to six at 7-1 on consecutive Margaret Majewska aces and UMass was unable to make up any ground as Temple ran away with the 30-17 win. Nitia Small (Oakland, Calif.) led the UMass effort with four kills while Renee Sewell (Toowong, Brisbane, Australia) and Celia Wiste (Chino Valley, Ariz.) each added three kills. Yamit Haba paced the Owls, terminating six kills in the game.
Game three unfolded much like game one, with UMass terminating nine kills but committing eight attack errors for a .037 hitting percentage. Temple ran the score up to 16-9 as the Minutewomen were only able to produce three kills including two dumps by setter Jitka Stehnova (Odolena Voda, Czech Republic). Junior Audra Bodenstab (Chadds Ford, Pa.) came off the bench to record the other kill for UMass on her first touch of the match. Liu led the Owl offense with four kills and Xu and Yamit each collected three kills in the game. Wiste led the Minutewomen with three kills in the 21-30 loss.
UMass finished the match with a .080 hitting percentage. Small and Wiste recorded team-high kills with six apiece. Clare Baxter (Miami, Fla.) added five kills on the night. Janeen DeMarte (El Paso, Texas) anchored the UMass defense with nine digs.
Temple hit for .351 and was led by Liu and Yamit with 11 kills each. Solana Lee collected seven digs and 34 assists.
The Minutewomen return to A-10 action tomorrow night as they host La Salle for a 7:00 p.m. match at Curry Hicks Cage.
-UMASS-
