Box Score Box Score
 
NEWARK, NJ—The Temple women's volleyball team left Newark Wednesday night with an expected win, but the victory was not nearly as easy as might have been forecast. The visiting Owls (5-1) needed a 16-14 win in the deciding fifth set in order to secure 3-2 win over NJIT (1-4) in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
Temple won the match with scores of 25-15, 24-26, 15-25, 25-18, and 16-14. Indeed, NJIT was looking at possible match point in the deciding set, holding a 14-13 lead, but a finesse attacking try by Nina Vukotic didn't quite clear the net, instead falling to the floor on the Highlander side and giving the Owls life.
 
The airtight victory lifted Temple to its fifth straight win since dropping its first 2013 match to the University at Buffalo on August 30. The Owls won the next day and then ran off three straight 3-0 wins to capture the championship of George Mason's Patriot Invitational on September 6 and 7, before coming north from Philadelphia to visit the Highlanders. The quick start this season is no fluke, as the Owls were 19-11 in 2012.
 
NJIT, meanwhile, won its opening 2013 match vs. Saint Peter's, but lost three matches in straight sets over the weekend in the SFC Terrier Invitational at St. Francis Brooklyn vs. opposition considerably less formidable than Temple is on paper.
 
Gabriella Matautia led the Owls attack, putting down 15 kills in the win. The senior from Hawai'i came into the match hot, having garnered Most Valuable Player in the Patriot Invitational, as well as American Athletic Conference Player of the Week (the American Athletic Conference is the new league formed after the split of the Big East Conference, in which the Catholic schools split and kept the Big East moniker and the remaining schools, mostly public institutions with Bowl Championship Series football teams, formed the AAC).
 
Freshman Tyler Davis added 12 kills and senior Emily Carlin notched 10 kills. The setting duties were shared by junior Tiffany Connatser (25 assists) and sophomore Sandra Sydlik (22 assists). The Owls served eight aces, with two apiece from Elyse Burkert, Kayla Yingling, and Caroline Grattan.
 
On defense, Temple had three players with double-figure digs totals, topped by Matautia and Burkert, with 11 each. The blocking leader was Hallie McCullough (4 blocks; 1 solo; 3 assists).
 
NJIT's attack was headed by sophomore Fran Edmondson (15 kills) and Camilla Tinari (12).
 
Tinari, the junior who has been NJIT's top player early in the season, sustained an apparent knee injury early in the fifth set and did not return. In fact, she had a kill to spark NJIT's 3-0 start to the set and her absence after the injury may well have made the difference in tipping the balance Temple's way in the deciding set.
 
Redshirt freshman setter Grace Gao handed out a match-best 36 assists for the Highlanders and Tinari was the top server, accounting for two of the three aces on the night for the Highlanders.
 
NJIT had a strong defensive night, with five players piling up individual double-figure digs totals and the team out blocking Temple, 12.5-to-11 in total team blocks.
 
Playing without the pure defensive position of libero, NJIT's defense on the floor was paced by Tinari (18 digs), followed by 16 for Edmondson, 15 from Julia Colombo, and 14 each from Danica Vukotic and Gao.
 
At the net, Colombo had six block assists, while Danica Vukotic and Edmondson each had five block assists.
 
Next up for the Highlanders is this weekend's Maddie Bingaman Memorial Tournament, hosted by UMBC. NJIT will take on the hosts Friday at 7 pm and then Howard and Loyola (MD) on Saturday afternoon.