TTN The Cherry: Volleyball hosts La Salle with playoffs on the line

http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2012/11/09/volleyball-hosts-la-salle-with-playoffs-on-the-line/

(November 9, 2012)

Sitting at 7-6 in the Atlantic 10 Conference the Owls host La Salle (4-25, 0-13 in the A-10) at 5 p.m. at McGonigle Hall with their postseason fate in their own hands.

Temple hosts the Explorers Friday in the regular season finale, looking to make the conference tournament for the first time in three years. A win and they're in.

But if Temple loses that's when things get complicated.

Dayton, Xavier, Virginia Commonwealth University and Duquesne are already in the tournament. If the season ended now Temple and George Washington would be in as well. Rhode Island and Butler are fighting for those sports as well, at 6-7 each.

The Owls are 1-1 over URI and lost to Butler on Sunday. They also lost to George Washington, meaning the Owls must Owls must hope all three teams lose if they lose to ensure they make the tournament.

The tricky part is if Temple, Butler and George Washington lose and Rhode Island wins. Because the Owls and Rams are 1-1 against each other this season they move to the second tiebreaker, which is head-to-head set record. Temple won the first meeting 3-0 and lost the second 3-2, giving them a 5-3 advantage in the edge in the tiebreaker.

Temple's match against La Salle is the only A-10 game on Friday. If they lose they will have a long weekend waiting to find out their fate.

Rhode Island heads to Fordham on Saturday to take on the Rams at 4 p.m. George Washington travels to Duquesne on Saturday at 4 p.m. as well. The Colonials faced the Dukes once before this season, winning 3-1 at home on Oct. 5. Butler hosts Saint Louis at 5 p.m. The Bulldogs lost their first matchup of the season in St. Louis 3-1.

Obviously none of that matters if the Owls take care of business on Friday, if they aren't able to they will likely spend Saturday watching nervously.

This is the third matchup between Temple and La Salle this season. Temple swept La Salle in straight sets in the finale of the Big 5 Tournament in September. Junior outside hitter Elyse Burkert led the match with 12 kills.

In the A-10 season rematch the Owls swept them again, this time off the combination of junior outside hitter Gabriella Matautia's 15 kills and Burkert's 11.

-Jake Adams

TTN: Alumna returns to court as coach

http://temple-news.com/sports/2012/11/05/alumna-returns-to-court-as-coach/

(November 5, 2012)
Assistant coach discusses her volleyball history.

Akiko Hatakeyama works with setters as an assistant coach. She played for Temple in the 1990s. | ABI REIMOLD // TTN

After 13 seasons competing and coaching in Europe for various clubs, Akiko Hatakeyama returned to Temple this year to become an assistant coach.

Hatakeyama was originally supposed to join the team last season, but red-tape issues with her visa delayed her arrival. Now she serves as a recruiting coordinator for coach Bakeer Ganes, who she worked with at volleyball camps held by former Temple coach Bob Bertucci. She works with the setters during practice.

A native of Japan, Hatakeyama grew up just outside of Tokyo, and was a part of the 1997 Owls squad who earned the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history. That year, Temple won the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship, earning Temple’s bid in the big dance before falling in the first round. It would spark a run of three consecutive years as conference champions and NCAA Tournament appearances.

THE TEMPLE NEWS: HOW DID YOU GET INTO VOLLEYBALL?

Akiko Hatakeyama: As a Japanese [girl] I was really tall and the coach from the volleyball team, he recruited me to be on his team and that team happened to be really strong, so that’s how I got into the competitive volleyball field.

TTN: WHAT MADE YOU GO TO TEMPLE?

AH: I wanted to find something different. All my life back in Japan I played volleyball and I wanted to find something different that I could stand out compared to other people. I wanted to be different, I think.

TTN: BEING ON THAT NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAM IN 1997, WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?

AH: It was a very good experience. I really liked the team, everybody wanted to compete. Everybody was determined to win the A-10 Championship, and then we executed it, and [made] it to the NCAA [tournament] for the first time. Obviously that was a great experience. I wish we won.

TTN: WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO JOIN THE UNITED STATES PROFESSIONAL VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE IN 2000?

AH: It was good. It was a really small league to start with, but everybody who was on the team loved to play volleyball and we wanted to get better, and all the little girls looked up to us. It was a really good opportunity for all the kids who play volleyball to be a good role model and we got to do what we like for a living.

TTN: SO WHY DID YOU END UP GOING TO EUROPE AFTER THAT?

AH: The USPV, it fell down, it went bankrupt. But prior to that I also played in Portugal, and I came back to play in the USPV League. Obviously I wanted to continue playing, I was still young. So I wanted to keep going as long as I could. I really liked the life in Europe, I learned a lot. It’s different from the U.S., different from Japan. And luckily I had an offer in Europe so I went back.

TTN: DID YOU EVER CONSIDER DOING BEACH VOLLEYBALL?

AH: Yes, but I wish I had access to the beach more. Of course, back then when I was still active as a player, [the] beach wasn’t that popular, especially in Japan. Beach was like nothing, and now it comes more and more. But back then it was not an opportunity. If I had an opportunity back then I probably would have thought about it seriously.

TTN: SO WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO COME BACK AFTER ALL THOSE YEARS IN EUROPE?

AH: Well, I stayed in touch with coach [Ganes]. In the beginning of my career as a player I didn’t think I was going to be a coach. But as I continued to play [I thought], “Hey, maybe I can share something that I learned as a player to a current player.” I started thinking about becoming a coach later on in my career as a player. This position opened up and I knew the coach, and I went to Temple. It just worked out perfect.

TTN: IS IT GOOD TO BE BACK AT TEMPLE?

AH: I’ve been to so many different countries, but I’m back in Philadelphia. It’s something. And I like it here. I always liked it here.

TTN: WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR YOU?

AH: We’ll see. I don’t know yet. This is my first year as an assistant and I’m still learning a lot, so as the year goes by I will see what I want to do. Right now, I just do my best every single day and become an even better coach.

Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.

TTN: Volleyball drops crucial A-10 match to Butler

http://temple-news.com/sports/2012/11/04/volleyball-drops-crucial-a-10-match-to-butler/

(November 4, 2012)
Bulldogs handle Owls in four-set victory.

It’s usually not a good sign when a team starts off with three attack errors in the first six points of a game.

The Owls (17-10, 7-6 in the Atlantic 10 Conference) did just that on Sunday in their match against Butler (16-11, 6-7 in A-10), falling behind 4-2 in the opening set, en route to Temple’s four-set loss to Butler in a crucial Atlantic 10 Conference match.

Things didn’t improve for Temple in its final road match of the season. Shortly after the early mistakes the Bulldogs went on a 9-1 run, pulling ahead for good in the first set which they won 25-14.

Temple didn’t recover in the second set, either, falling behind 9-4 and never mounting a significant comeback. Butler used its size advantage to force multiple mistakes, something that was a theme throughout the entire match.

“I guess it’s pretty simple, we just didn’t perform well,” coach Bakeer Ganes said. “Butler did a good job but I think we just didn’t perform well.”

After dropping the second set 25-19, the Owls showed signs of life in the third set with their backs against the wall. Temple opened up with an 11-6 lead thanks in large part to junior outside hitter Gabriella Matautia’s five kills in that span. She tacked in the team’s 25-20 third-set victory and would finish with a double-double of 17 kills and 13 digs. But it could have been considered a triple-double as the Hawaiian native led the match with 15 attack errors as well.

“The third set was closer to how we play,” Ganes said. “I thought we controlled the ball pretty well. We put some pressure on them with the serves and some of the attacking, but the main thing was we played defense and we passed the ball well.”

The momentum didn’t last, however. The fourth set started out back and forth, as a kill by senior outside hitter Jingyu Zhang and a Butler attack error tied the set at 4-4. But the wheels quickly fell off as the Bulldogs stormed away on a 11-0 run.

The Owls stopped the bleeding momentarily, but only because of a service error by the home team. They didn’t make back-to-back points for the remainder of the set, falling 25-8 and losing the match 3-1.

“It’s kind of tough,” Ganes said. “It’s not just being down 2-0, it’s being down 2-0 and you know you played bad. It’s so much tougher to come back from that.”

“We just couldn’t keep that up,” he added. “We just kind of went back to the same rhythm we had in the first couple sets.”

Two other Owls recorded double-doubles. Sophomore setter Tiffany Connatser dished out 34 assists while scooping up 14 digs and junior outside hitter Elyse Burkert added 10 kills and 13 digs. Senior libero Chelsea Tupuola also had 14 digs, but that was as good as things got for Temple.

“Butler is a big, physical team, but I think we’re a better ball-controlling team, but we just didn’t control the ball well especially those first couple sets and the last set,” Ganes said.

The Owls now turn their attention to their final match of the regular season. They host Big 5 rival La Salle. A victory clinches a conference tournament berth while a loss means Temple needs help to secure one of the six seeds.

“I think the best thing that can happen for us is we have an off day tomorrow,” Ganes said. “Sometimes it’s kind of good to take a step back and look at these things, so I think we kind of need a time out here so we can get our minds going in other directions.”

Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.

TTN The Cherry: Volleyball sets up for crucial A-10 match against Butler

http://thecherry.temple-news.com/2012/11/03/volleyball-sets-up-for-crucial-a-10-match-against-butler/

(November 3, 2012)

With two games remaining in the Atlantic 10 Conference season, the Owls (17-9, 7-5 in A-10) head to Butler (15-11, 5-7 in A-10) to take on the Bulldogs with playoff berths on the line.

It's the two programs only match as conference foes, as Butler joined the A-10 this season and the Owls scheduled to move to the Big East Conference next season.

A victory for Temple secures the Owls one of the six playoff seeds in the A-10 tournament. If the Bulldogs come out on top they stay alive with a chance to unseat Temple, Duquesne or George Washington if they win their final match and get some help along the way.

A Temple victory would be ideal but the Owls also have a match against La Salle, keeping their fate in their own hands.

The match is set to begin at noon.

-Jake Adams

TTN: Career nights leads volleyball against Saint Louis

http://temple-news.com/sports/2012/11/03/career-nights-leads-volleyball-against-saint-louis/

(November 3, 2012)
Standout performances help Owls earn crucial five-set victory.

Junior outside hitter Gabriella Matautia knocked down the second point for the Owls (17-9, 7-5 in Atlantic 10 Conference) and the final point of the match in a five-set win over Saint Louis (9-18, 3-9 in A-10), and somewhere in between tacked on 30 more.

The 32 total kills is Matautia’s career high, just two weeks after she tallied 30 in a five-set victory against Fordham. She also recorded 21 digs.

“Usually if you see an attacker you’re hot for a while and then you cool down but [Matautia] was just on the entire match,” coach Bakeer Ganes said.

“We can really rely on her,” he added. “I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that it’s going to keep going. I’m not going to complain and she’s doing a very good job.”

Sophomore setter Tiffany Connatser also had a career high with 57 assists, while tallying 12 digs. But they weren’t alone as senior libero Chelsea Tupuola had her own milestone, with 39 digs, averaging an impressive 7.8 digs per set.

“[Tupuola] was just money,” Ganes said. “She was passing perfect balls and did a very good job on defense too.”

The Owls had a fight from the beginning with the Billikens, dropping the opening set in extra points, 30-28. The teams battled it out again in the second set but Temple, on the road, was able to come away with a 27-25 second-set victory.

“I really thought we played pretty sloppy,” Ganes said. “If we would have played a little bit more dominant, a little bit with more determination, I think we could have separated ourselves earlier in the first set.”

After the intermission the Owls came out and made mistake after mistake, allowing Saint Louis to go on two critical runs that led to a 25-15 Temple loss. Ganes said the errors weren’t a total negative, as it showed the team loss on their own accord, not because the Billikens were better.

“It was kind of like a bad thing but at the same time we took a lot of positives out of that set and it really helped us to keep going,” Ganes said.

While they never had a commanding lead in the final two sets, the Owls used the disappointing third set as a springboard, taking the final two sets 25-15 and 15-13, respectively.

The victory keeps the Owls in control of their own destiny in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament hunt. With a head-to-head tiebreaker against Fordham and a one game lead over Rhode Island, who lost their matches on Friday, the Owls need just one victory against Butler on Sunday or La Salle next week to clinch a playoff berth, their first since 2009.

Butler is the most likely team capable of knocking out the Owls. If they can win their final two matches and Temple loses both of theirs—which also means Duquesne and George Washington must win out—then the Owls will be left on the outside looking in.

“It’s very relieving,” Ganes said. “This was a huge victory for us because it gets us really, really close to be able to qualify for the playoffs. It’s right there, we can reach it, we just have to go out there and hopefully get another win.”

The Owls return to action on Sunday when they take on conference newcomer Butler. It’s the only match the teams will have as conference foes, with the Owls departing for the Big East Conference after this season.

Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.