Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
Temple
Volleyball Battles to Stay Alive in A-10 Tourney, Downs Temple, 3-2
11.21.08 | Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2008
Box Score |
Photos of Friday's Pass-and-Serve 
SAINT LOUIS, Mo. – Although it took five sets, the fourth-seeded Xavier volleyball team kept its season alive by recording a 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-18, 15-10) win over No. 5 Temple in the first round of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championship Friday night in Chaifetz Pavilion. The Musketeers advance to play top-seeded Saint Louis at 9 pm ET (8 pm CT) on Saturday. XU was led by junior Kelly Ruth with a team-high 16 kills and was one dig away from a double-double with nine in addition to a team-high four assisted blocks.
Also for the Musketeers, sophomore Chelsea Campbell tallied a career-high 14 kills in the contest and sophomore Claire Paszkiewicz recorded a double-double with 20 assists and 18 digs. Also with double-digit kills was junior Hillary Otte with 10 while senior Megan Hellmann got under 16 digs for the contest.
Xavier (16-13) jumped out to an early 3-0 set-one lead after back-to-back Temple (15-14) errors and an assisted block by Ruth and freshman Kathryn Traut. The Owls got right back in the game when a Musketeer attack error and subsequent Owl assisted block gave TU the 6-5 advantage. Temple used a 6-1 run to stretch its lead to four, 14-10, and the Owls found themselves up by four again, 17-13, after consecutive kills by Yun Yi Zhang. Xavier called timeout and out of the break, XU got two back on kills from junior Lauren Kaminsky and Ruth.
Temple got ahead by four three more times with the last coming at 22-18. Freshman Emily Mayers and Ruth layed down two straight kills for the Musketeers followed by an illegal Owl attack put XU within one, 22-21. TU held set-point, 24-22, and XU called for a break. Out of the timeout, the Musketeers kept the game going with a kill from Kaminsky but on the following play TU’s Patricia Vernon registered a kill to end the set, 25-23.
The Musketeers took a quick 4-1 lead to open the second set and pushed it to five, 9-4, on the strength of three kills from sophomore Chelsea Campbell. Another kill from Campbell and a service ace by Kaminsky gave XU the 11-6 advantage and Temple needed a minute to talk it over. The Owls scored three straight out of the break before a kill by Ruth squashed the run. A subsequent service ace from sophomore Shannon Voors set the score at 13-9 in favor of the Musketeers.
TU stayed in the frame and pulled to within two, 18-16, after a kill from Anissa Whitney. XU called for a timeout and when play resumed Zhang served the ball out of bounds for the Musketeer sideout. The Owls got to within one, 21-20, after a TU service ace and Xavier used its second and final TO of the set. Temple scored its first lead of the set, 23-22, after an illegal Musketeer attack but it was short lived as Temple’s Cayleigh Ashman served the ball out of bounds and Kaminsky followed with a kill on the next play as XU earned set-point, 24-23. XU headed into the intermission with the match tied, 1-1, after a second-set, 25-23, win after Kaminsky recorded her second consecutive kill.
In the third set it was Temple that took the fast lead, going up 8-2. The lead was cut to three, 6-9, following consecutive kills from Voors but the Owls pushed it back to five three times. Back-to-back Xavier assisted blocks allowed XU to pull within two, 13-11, and TU called for a break. Temple got up seven, 21-14, forcing Xavier to call its second timeout of the game. A kill from Zhang gave TU set-point and an assisted block by Jacqueline Cowden and Zhang won the set for the Owls, 25-17 and Temple took the 2-1 lead.
Xavier took control of the fourth set with an 8-3 lead after a kill apiece from junior Hillary Otte and Voors. XU stretched the advantage to seven, 13-6, following consecutive Musketeer kills and an assisted block by Otte and Mayers. Temple wanted to put a stop to the 4-0 XU run and called for a break. The Owls got the sideout on a kill from Ashman followed by a kill from Zhang to put the set at 14-8. The Musketeers’ 5-1 run gave them their largest lead of the contest, 19-9, and Temple was forced to call its second timeout.
Temple pulled to within five, 20-15, following a call that didn’t agree with the XU bench and the up-ref gave the Xavier bench a yellow card (warning). TU got the set to five three more times before a kill from Ruth gave Xavier set-point, 24-18. Voors smashed down the game-winning kill as XU tied the match at two sets apiece with the fourth-set win, 25-18.
In the deciding game, Temple went ahead three, 5-2, following a solo block by Vernon. XU got to within one, 7-6, on a kill from Voors and then tied the set at seven apiece on an Owl attack error. The Musketeers retook the lead after two more Temple attack errors, 9-7, and TU called for a timeout. Out of the break, the Owls got a point back on a kill by Ashman but XU stretched its lead to four, 12-8, after a kill from Ruth.
Temple called its second TO and when play resumed, Zhang laid down another kill. Xavier answered with a kill from Mayers and a service ace by sophomore Claire Paszkiewicz to earn match-point, 14-9. TU got one point back but Otte closed out the set with a kill, 15-10, and Xavier won the match, 3-2, to advance to the semifinal round.
The Owls were led by Zhang, who registered the match’s only other double-double with a match-high 20 kills to go with 11 digs. Ariel Pierre tallied a match-high 21 digs and Morrison served as the Owls primary setter, setting 44 assists.
