Oct. 19, 2004
Box Score
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Junior outside hitter Celine Nguyen (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif.) had consecutive kills in the decisive fifth game to give the Wildcats the lead for good, and Villanova (5-13) rallied to a 3-2 victory over Temple (9-14) on Tuesday evening at the Nevin Field House.
In their first home match in nearly six weeks, the Wildcats followed the example set by Nguyen, who notched the first "20-20" effort of her career with a career-high 21 kills and 20 digs. Villanova, which let a lead slip away late in the third game, raced past the Owls in the final two frames. The Wildcats quickly went up 6-1 in the fourth game and built that lead to 17-5 before trading points with Temple the rest of the way. The Owls bore down defensively in the fifth game, but after seven ties, Nguyen's first kill of the game gave the Wildcats a 9-8 lead. She followed with another kill to make the score 10-8, and Villanova ended the match by scoring the final three points to snap a seven-match losing streak.
Junior outside hitter Dana Kabashima (Santa Monica, Calif.) and sophomore setter Jen Lalli (Media, Pa.) joined Nguyen in posting double-doubles for Villanova. Kabashima had a team-high 21 digs and added 15 kills, while Lalli notched career-highs of 51 assists and 16 digs. Freshman middle hitter Kacy Sellers (Battle Creek, Mich.) added 20 kills and sophomore middle blocker Adrian Semrau (Grafton, Ohio) contributed 11 kills and a team-high six blocks.
The Wildcats maintained a .236 hitting percentage in the match, a mark that was higher than in any of the seven matches Villanova lost during the losing streak. The pace for the match was set early on, as the Wildcats made just three attack errors and hit .436 along the way to taking the first game. The roles were reversed in the second game, as Temple hit .471 and evened the match at one game apiece.
The Owls opened the third game with an 8-3 spurt and appeared to have taken the momentum in the match, but Villanova evened the score at 11-11 and eventually led 25-20. Temple scored the next five points to tie match at 25-25, but the Wildcats retook the lead and led 29-27. Not to be dissuaded, the Owls got two kills apiece from Sun Ying Ling and Jia Zhen Liu in scoring the final four points of the game. That set the stage for Villanova's rally in the final two games, during which Temple hit just .083 thanks to 42 digs by the Wildcats. Kabashima had 11 digs in the fourth game alone, and 13 in the final two games.
Yue Liu led Temple with 29 kills and 20 digs, while Alison Runk dished out 57 assists. Zhen Jia Liu also tallied a double-double with a team-high 21 digs to go along with 12 kills. Sun Ying Ling added 12 kills and 19 digs.
The Wildcats, who played 14 of their first 17 matches on the road before tonight's match, will be packing their bags once again this weekend. Villanova will visit West Virginia on Saturday and Pittsburgh on Sunday for a pair of BIG EAST matches. First serve in each contest is scheduled for 2 p.m.
NOTES: Nguyen's double-double was her 10th of the season and sixth in the last seven matches ... Sellers has reached 20 kills in a match twice this season ... The Wildcats are 4-0 on their home court in 2004 and dating back to last year have gone 12-2 in their last 14 home matches ... Villanova's seven-match losing streak was the longest since an eight-game skid to end the 1999 season.
