Sept. 4, 2010
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - In its second match of the Big 5 Tournament, the Villanova volleyball team earned its second consecutive 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-9) sweep over Temple at The Palestra on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats (3-3) combined to hit .287, while blanking the Owls who had a .000 hitting percentage.
Redshirt sophomore Morgan Petkovich recorded a double-double with a match-high 10 kills and 11 digs, while junior Maggie Mergen and freshman Allison Williams posted nine and seven kills, respectively. Mergen had no errors and recorded a .562 clip.
Junior Kim Maroon collected a match-high 16 digs and launched six service aces, while freshman Alyssa Anderson gave out 30 assists.
Villanova got off to a quick 6-1 lead in the first set and remained strong, extending to 12-6 and 16-8 after a Temple error forced the Owls to use a timeout. Following the break, Williams posted back-to-back kills to keep the Wildcats in front, 22-12 and Temple called its final timeout following a combined block from Williams and classmate Carly Edwards with `Nova holding set point, 24-13. Despite the Owls holding on to score two additional points, a serving error gave Villanova a 25-15 victory in the set. Williams connected on four kills in the first, while the `Cats combined to hit .286, while holding Temple to just .118.
Temple got on the board first in the second frame, but Villanova responded and took a 10-4 lead as the Owls called a timeout to regroup. Temple scored four points after the break, but a kill and an ace from Petkovich kept the Wildcats ahead, 14-8. Maroon served back-to-back aces to extend the lead to 18-10 as the Owls used their final timeout. Maroon served two more consecutive aces in an 8-0 run for Villanova going ahead, 23-10 after Petkovich connected on a kill. Junior Kara Chatham came in to serve for set point and sophomore Krista Andersen found the floor for the final kill and a 25-13 set victory. The `Cats hit .280 in the frame, while stifling Temple to just .100 as a team. Petkovich tallied four kills.
It was another quick lead for `Nova in the third set as Maroon served two aces which helped earn a 4-0 lead and a combined block from Edwards and Mergen kept the `Cats in front, 16-7. At 17-7 Temple used its first timeout, but Villanova continued its offensive attack on a 5-0 run that saw the Owls use their last timeout. Petkovich posted a kill to give the Wildcats set point at 24-9 and sophomore CeCe Twitty found the floor for a kill giving Villanova a 25-9 set victory and a 3-0 match sweep. `Nova hit a stellar .296 combined, while shutting the Owls down to -.222.
The Wildcats will conclude the Big 5 Tournament later in the day as they will face host Penn at 7:00 p.m.
