THE MATCH-UPS. TEMPLE OWLS 18-6, 11-3 American. HEAD COACH Bakeer Ganesharatnam / 6th Yr. Overall: at School: Same

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1 TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL 2016 WEEKLY NOTES - TEMPLE VS. CINCINNATI (11/11) & EAST CAROLINA (11/13) Lauren Ferrett, Associate Director for Athletic Communications lauren.ferrett@temple.edu O: C: Website: MATCH INFORMATION Date... November 11, November 13 Site... Philadelphia, Pa. (McGonigle Hall) Live Stats... sidearmstats.com/temple/wvball/ Video... owlsports.com/watch Temple vs. Cincinnati Last Meeting...W, 3-0 at Cincinnati Temple vs. ECU Last Meeting... W, 3-1 at ECU Twitter SCHEDULE/RESULTS Day Date Opponent Time Sonestra Philadelphia Hotel Temple Invitational Fri. Aug. 26 vs. Northern Arizona W, 3-1 Sat. Aug. 27 Hampton W, 3-0 Puerto Rico Clásico Fri. Sep. 2 vs. Virginia Tech L, 2-3 Sat. Sep. 3 vs. Alabama L, 1-3 Hilton Penn s Landing Cherry & White Challenge Fri. Sep. 9 Cleveland State L, 2-3 Sat. Sep. 10 New Hampshire W, 3-1 Sat. Sep. 10 Rutgers W, 3-0 Philadelphia Big 5 Tournament (at Penn/La Salle) Fri. Sep. 16 Villanova (at Penn) W, 3-0 Sat. Sep. 17 at La Salle W, 3-1 Sat. Sep. 17 Penn (at La Salle) W, 3-0 American Athletic Conference Fri. Sep. 23 vs. Tulane L, 2-3 Sun. Sep. 25 vs. Houston W, 3-1 Wed. Sep. 28 at UConn W, 3-2 Sun. Oct. 2 at Memphis W, 3-2 Fri. Oct. 7 at Tulsa W, 3-0 Sun. Oct. 9 at SMU W, 3-2 Fri. Oct. 14 vs. USF L, 0-3 Sun. Oct. 16 vs. UCF L, 2-3 Fri. Oct. 21 at ECU W, 3-1 Sun. Oct. 23 at Cincinnati W, 3-0 Wed. Oct. 26 vs. UConn W, 3-0 Fri. Oct. 28 vs. Memphis W, 3-2 Fri. Nov. 4 at Houston W, 3-0 Sun. Nov. 6 at Tulane W, 3-0 Fri. Nov. 11 vs. Cincinnati 7:00 p.m. Sun. Nov. 13 vs. ECU 1:00 p.m. Fri. Nov. 18 at UCF 7:00 p.m. Sun. Nov. 20 at USF 1:00 p.m. Wed. Nov. 23 vs. SMU 1:00 p.m. Fri. Nov. 25 vs. Tulsa 1:00 p.m. All times Eastern. Home matches in bold THE MATCH-UPS TEMPLE OWLS 18-6, 11-3 American HEAD COACH Bakeer Ganesharatnam / 6th Yr. Overall: at School: Same LAST MATCH W, 3-0 at Tulane 11/6/16 CINCINNATI BEARCATS 16-9, 11-3 American HEAD COACH Molly Alvey / 5th Yr. Overall: at School: LAST MATCH L, 3-1 vs. Tulsa 11/6/16 EAST CAROLINA PIRATES 14-10, 4-10 American HEAD COACH Julie Torbett / 4th Yr. Overall: at School: LAST MATCH L, 3-0 vs. SMU 11/6/16 TEMPLE HEADLINES Temple is 18-6 overall with an 11-3 (T-2nd) mark in The American The Owls have won three-straight American Athletic Conference series, since an 0-2 home weekend October Temple topped UConn, 3-0, on Wednesday, and then picked up a marathon 3-2 win over Memphis on Friday. Junior was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday, after averaging 5.50 kills per set last week. Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam is in his sixth season with the Owls, recently winning his 100th career match to move to Temple was picked to finish second in the conference, after two-straight secondplace seasons The Owls had the most representatives on the preseason All-American Athletic Conference team, with three players making the list --, Kirsten Overton, and Izzy Rapacz Asci (1st team), Overton (1st team), and Rapacz (2nd team) are returning 2015 All- Conference honorees The Owls finished their tough non-conference slate with a 7-3 overall record, playing six teams that made the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Temple won the Big 5 Tournament, as the Owls topped Villanova (3-0), La Salle (3-1), and Penn (3-0), with sophomore Mia Heirakuji being named MVP, and senior Tyler Davis earning All-Tournament honors. Temple went 2-0 to win the Temple Invitational the first weekend of the season, defeating Northern Arizona (3-1) and Hampton (3-0). Senior Izzy Rapacz was named Temple Invitational MVP, while juniors Irem and Kyra Coundourides earned All-Tournament honors. The Owls finished second at the Cherry and White Challenge, with Kirsten Overton and Asci earning All-Tournament nods. TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA - TUVB

2 2016 TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL ROSTER NO NAME YR POS HT HOMETOWN/PREVIOUS SCHOOL 1 Jr. OH 5-11 Ankara, Turkey/Collage Ayseabla/Charlotte 2 Janine Simmons Jr. MB 6-1 Centreville, Va. Centreville 3 Mia Heirakuji So. DS/L 5-5 Kailua, Hawaii/Kamehameha 4 Iva Deak So. MB 6-0 Zagreb, Croatia/IV Gimnazija Zagre/Iowa West. 5 Dara Peric Jr. OH 6-0 Belgrade, Serbia/HS of Tourism 7 Kyra Coundourides Jr. S 5-10 Brunswick, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit/Virginia Tech 8 Carla Guennewig So. MB 6-2 Muenster, Germany/Pascal Gym. Muenster 10 Hannah Vandegrift So. S 6-0 Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County 11 Kirsten Overton Sr. MB 6-1 Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford 12 Caroline Grattan Sr. OH/RS 6-1 Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon 14 Dana Westfield Fr. OH 6-0 Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central 15 Tyler Davis Sr. OH 6-0 Palm Desert, Calif./Xavier College Prep 16 Izzy Rapacz Jr. OH/RS 6-2 Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South COACHING STAFF Head Coach: Bakeer Ganesharatnam (Queens College 05; 6th year) Assistant Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator: Akiko Hatakeyama (Temple 99; 5th year) Assistant Coach: Ren Cefra (Hawai i-west Oahu 13; 2nd year) Operations Intern: Christian Kiselica NEWS AND NOTES AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PLAY Temple has now won six-straight American Athletic Conference games, last time out recording road sweeps at Houston and Tulane. The Owls (11-3) are second in the conference standings, tied with Cincinnati (11-3) and behind only SMU (12-2). The Owls own head-to-head wins over both the Bearcats and the Mustangs, and will play each time once more this season. LAST TIME OUT: TEMPLE 3, TULANE 0 (AMERICAN) Temple hit a season-high.432 en route to a 3-0 sweep (26-24, 25-11, 25-15) on the road at Tulane. The win avenges an earlier 3-2 loss to the Green Wave for the Owls. The cherry and white made just six errors in the entire match, a program low, since the 2012 season when the Owls made only five errors in a 3-0 sweep against Cleveland State. Junior had 19 kills on 31 swings to hit.548, while classmate Izzy Rapacz recorded 11 kills, hitting.409 with four blocks. Sophomore Iva Deak notched seven kills on nine attempts to hit.667, while senior Tyler Davis added seven kills, hitting.333. The architect of the offense was junior setter Kyra Coundourides, who dished out 40 assists, adding nine digs in the win. Defensively, sophomore Mia Heirakuji picked up a match-best 14 digs. Elsewhere, Asci added nine digs, while junior Dara Peric had seven digs with two aces. LAST TIME OUT: TEMPLE 3, HOUSTON 0 (AMERICAN) Temple earned a 3-0 sweep (27-25, 25-22, 15-15) at Houston on Friday night, holding Houston s offense to a.139 attack. Asci topped the Owls with 14 kills, while Davis had nine and Rapacz added seven kills, 11 digs, and three blocks. Deak ended her night with six kills, hitting.357, tying Rapacz for match-high honors with three blocks. Junior Janine Simmons ended her night with two kills on five swings, with a pair of blocks. Coundourides tallied 26 assists on the night, also picking up three kills without a miscue. She added nine digs and three aces in the win. Heirakuji topped Temple with 15 digs, while Peric and Asci each added seven. ASCI NAMED TO HONOR ROLL Temple s was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. Asci racked up 5.50 kills and 2.67 digs per set, as Temple improved to 18-6 overall. Against Houston, the junior led the Owls with 14 kills, also adding seven digs, an ace, and two blocks. At Tulane, she again led Temple s hitters, racking up 19 kills, hitting a massive.548, adding nine digs in the sweep. For the week, she finished with 33 kills and 16 digs in six sets. SCOUTING THE OWLS Junior leads the Temple offense, racking up 4.45 kills per set, ranking her second in the conference and 16th in the nation. Junior Izzy Rapacz (2.84 kills/set) and senior Tyler Davis (2.10 kills/set) attack from the outside for Temple, while senior Kirsten Overton (1.67 kill/set), sophomore Iva Deak (1.63 kills/set), and junior Janine Simmons (1.10 kills/set) shore up the middle. Junior Kyra Coundourides is Temple s top setter, PRONUNCIATION GUIDE 1...E-rem OST-chew 7 Kyra Coundourides...KEE-ruh Con-DOOR-ee-dez 4 Iva Deak... Eeva DAY-ock 12 Caroline Grattan...GROT-in 8 Carla Guennewig...Gun-uh-VIG 3 Mia Heirakuji...Hay-ra-KOO-gee 16 Izzy Rapacz... RAH-posh 5 Dara Peric...Darr-Uh PEAR-itch Bakeer Ganesharatnam...bah-KEER GAH-nez-SHA-rat-nam Akiko Hatakeyama... a-key-ko Ha-tah-KAY-yama AMERICAN TEAMS RPI RANKINGS Rank School Record 42 Cincinnati SMU Temple UCF Tulsa Tulane UConn South Fla East Carolina Memphis Houston 5-20 PROGRAM INFORMATION ALL-TIME Overall record: ( ) NCAA Appearances: 4 (1997, 1998, 1999, 2002) COACHING STAFF Head Coach:... Bakeer Ganesharatnam...Phone: (215) ganesb@temple.edu... Career Record (Years): (5 seasons)... Record at TU (Years): Same Assistant Head Coach:...Akiko Hatakeyama... Phone: (215) akiko.h@temple.edu Assistant Coach:... Ren Cefra... Phone: (215) renwick.cefra@temple.edu Student Dir. of Operations... Christian Kiselica... Phone: (215) templevb@temple.edu THE OWLS Letterwinners Returning/Lost:...10/3 Starters Returning/Lost:... 5/1 + libero Newcomers: Overall Record: American Record: American Finish:... 2nd TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Location:...Philadelphia, Pa. Founded: Enrollment:...39,000 Acting President:...Richard M. Englert Director of Athletics:...Dr. Patrick Kraft Nickname:... Owls Colors:... Cherry (201c) and White Home Court:...McGonigle Hall (3,900)

3 THE AMERICAN STANDINGS School Conf. % All % Streak SMU W1 Temple W6 Cincinnati L1 UCF W3 USF L3 Tulsa W4 UConn W1 Tulane L1 E. Carolina L4 Memphis L1 Houston L16 AMERICAN WEEKLY AWARDS - 10/30 Offensive POTW: Jale Hervey, UCF Defensive POTW: Brooke Berryhill, Tulsa Honor Roll: Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati Kayla Williams, UConn Michaella Moss, Memphis, Temple Erica Bohannon, Tulsa 2016 OWL SEASON HONORS The American Offensive Player of the Week Izzy Rapacz, 8/29/16 The American Defensive Player of the Week Mia Heirakuji, 10/10/16 Under Armour/Owlsports.com Athlete of the Week Izzy Rapacz, 8/29/16 Kirsten Overton, 9/12/16, 11/7/16 The American Weekly Honor Roll Kirsten Overton, 9/12/16, 9/26/16, 10/3/16 Kyra Coundourides, 10/24/16 Kyra Coundourides, 10/31/16, 11/7/16 Temple Invitational All-Tournament Izzy Rapacz, MVP Kyra Coundourides Cherry & White Challenge All-Tournament Kirsten Overton Philadelphia Big 5 All-Tournament Mia Heirakuji, MVP Tyler Davis NEWS AND NOTES averaging assists per set, while sophomore Hannah Vandegrift adds 3.50 assists per frame. Defensively, Temple is led by sophomore Mia Heirakuji, who averages 3.53 digs per set. Asci (2.96 digs/set), Rapacz (2.56 digs/set), and Coundourides (2.34 digs/set) beef up the back row for the Owls. At the net, Temple is led by Overton s 88 blocks, while Rapacz has 87 and Deak has 74. As a team, Temple hits.244 and holds opponents to a.191 attack. The Owls rank first in the American in team hitting (.240) and total aces (115), second in blocks per set (2.21), and third in assists per set (12.81), kills per set (13.61). SCOUTING CINCINNATI Cincinnati is 16-9 overall, 11-3 in American Athletic Conference play. The Bearcats scored a big win over SMU on Friday to briefly take over first place in the conference standings, but fell to Tulsa 3-1 on Sunday. The Bearcats are led by Jordan Thompson s 4.85 kills per set, which ranks first in the conference and fifth in the nation. Carly Nolan (3.27 kills/set) and Ciara Hill (2.74 kills/set) also bolster the Cincinnati offense, which is run by setter Jade Tingelhoff. She averages assists per frame, while also adding 2.57 digs per set. Defensively, Abby Williams leads the team with 3.64 digs per set, while Nolan also adds At the net, Lise Alaiwan leads the team with 68 total blocks, while Thompson has 58 and Allison Kimmel has 52. As a team, Cincinnati hits.240, right behind the Owls in the conference rankings, while opponents hit.202 against the Bearcats. OWLS VS. THE BEARCATS Temple holds an 8-3 lead in the all-time series against Cincinnati, including winning a 3-0 match at Cincinnati earlier this season. SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA East Carolina is overall, 4-10 in The American. The Pirates have lost five out of their last six matches. ECU s offense is led by Sydney Darden s 2.86 kills per set, with the outside hitter also adding 2.58 digs per set, which ranks third on the team. Three other players average 2.00 kills per set or better, including I Tiana Taylor (2.70), Natalia Montini (2.25) and Ashley McRae (2.06). Sabrina Gonzalez distributes the offense, with assists per set, while also ranking second on the team with 3.10 digs per set. Elsewhere, Brandee Markwith tops the team with 4.18 digs per set, while Ashton Mares contributes 2.41 digs per frame. At the net, Montini leads with 89 total blocks, while McCrae adds 84. ECU hits.197 as a team, holding opponents to a.173 attack. OWLS VS. THE PIRATES Temple is 5-0 all-time against East Carolina, including winning the earlier match-up, 3-1, in North Carolina. PHILADELPHIA BIG 5 CHAMPIONS Temple won the 2016 Philadelphia Big 5 Championship for the third time in program history. The Cherry and White swept Villanova (3-0) on Friday, and then topped La Salle (3-1) and Penn (3-0) on Saturday to claim the title. TEMPLE INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONS Temple won the 2016 Sonesta Hotel Temple Invitational with a pair of victories last weekend. The Owls topped Northern Arizona, a 2015 NCAA Tournament team, 3-1 on Friday, and then swept Hampton, 3-0, on Saturday. TEMPLE PICKED TO FINISH SECOND Three Temple volleyball players earned American Athletic Conference pre-season honors, while the Owls were picked to finish second in a vote of the leagues coaches. Temple s three selections -- senior Kirsten Overton, and juniors and Izzy Rapacz, were the most for any American squad. Temple earned two first-place votes in the coaches poll, and finished in second place in the final tally with 88 points. The Owls ended last season in second place with a 15-5 conference mark and a 24-8 overall record and return three of their four All-Conference selections from TWO TEMPLE MATCHES TO AIR ON AMERICAN DIGITAL NETWORK Two Temple volleyball matches will be part of the American Digital Network s 18-game fall schedule. The Owls will air live on ADN for matches against UCF (away) and SMU (home). ADN is covering a total of three volleyball matches this fall.

4 2016 TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL TV ROSTER 1 7 IREM ASCI Ankara, Turkey KYRA COUNDOURIDES Brunswick, Ohio DANA WESTFIELD 14 Champaign, Ill. 2 JANINE SIMMONS CARLA GUENNEWIG Centreville, Va. 3 8 Muenster, Germany 10 TYLER DAVIS MIA HEIRAKUJI HANNAH VANDEGRIFT Kailua, Hawaii Leesburg, Va. 15Palm Desert, Calif. 16 LAST YEAR S OWL HONORS 4 11 IVA DEAK KIRSTEN OVERTON Zagreb, Croatia Royersford, Pa. 5 DARA PERIC Belgrade, Serbia CAROLINE GRATTAN 12 Pittsburgh, Pa. IZZY RAPACZ Glenville, Ill. American Offensive Player of the Week 9/28 - Kirsten Overton 11/30 - Temple Invitational All-Tournament Sandra Sydlik Seton Hall All-Tournament Tyler Davis American Athletic Conference Academic Excellence Award 2015 Temple Volleyball American Weekly Honor Roll 9/7-9/14 - Izzy Rapacz 9/21 - Kirsten Overton 9/28 - Alyssa Drachslin 10/5-10/12 - Alyssa Drachslin 10/19 - Tyler Davis 10/26 - Caroline Grattan 11/9 - Sandra Sydlik 11/16 - Izzy Rapacz 11/23 - NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Alyssa Drachslin Owlsports.com Athlete of the Week 9/28 - Kirsten Overton All-American Athletic Conference Sandra Sydlik, First Team Kirsten Overton, First Team, First Team Izzy Rapacz, Second Team Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Alyssa Drachslin AVCA Team Academic Award 2015 Temple Volleyball Cherry & White Challenge All-Tournament MVP - Izzy Rapacz Sandra Sydlik Kayla Yingling Philadelphia Big 5 All-Tournament Kirsten Overton

5 2016 TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL STATISTICS - OVERALL 2016 Temple Volleyball Temple Combined Team Statistics (as of Nov 06, 2016) All matches RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL ALL GAMES CONFERENCE NON-CONFERENCE Attack Set Serve Dig Blocking Player sp k k/s e ta pct a a/s sa se sa/s re dig dig/s bs ba total blk/s be bhe points 1 ASCI, Irem RAPACZ, Izzy DAVIS, Tyler OVERTON, Kirsten DEAK, Iva COUNDOURIDES, Kyr SIMMONS, Janine PERIC, Dara GRATTAN, Caroline GUENNEWIG, Carla VANDEGRIFT, Hannah HEIRAKUJI, Mia TEAM TEMPLE Opponents Team Statistics TEMPLE OPP ATTACK Kills Errors Total Attacks Attack Pct Kills/Set SET Assists Assists/Set SERVE Aces Errors Aces/Set SERVE RECEPTIONS Errors Errors/Set DEFENSE Digs Digs/Set BLOCKING Block Solo Block Assist Total Blocks Blocks/Set Block Errors Ball handling errors ATTENDANCE Total Dates/Avg Per Date 11/534 10/273 Neutral site /Avg 3/36 Current win streak 6 - Home win streak 2 - Date Opponent Score Score by set Att. Aug 26 NAU W ,18-25,25-20, Aug 27 HAMPTON W ,25-15, Sep 02 vs Virginia Tech L ,21-25,25-21,18-25, Sep 03 vs Alabama L ,25-22,21-25, Sep 09 CSU L ,22-25,22-25,25-21, Sep 10 UNH W ,25-21,18-25, Sep 10 RUTGERS W ,25-14, Sep 16 vs Villanova W ,27-25, Sep 17 at LaSalle W ,25-17,25-15, Sep 17 at PENN W ,25-16, *Sep 23 TULANE L ,25-22,19-25,25-22, *Sep 25 HOUSTON W ,25-21,25-17, *Sep 28 at UConn W ,26-24,19-25,23-25, *Oct 02 at Memphis W ,21-25,25-17,25-19, *Oct 07 at Tulsa W ,25-20, *Oct 09 at SMU W ,25-23,21-25,19-25, *Oct 14 USF L ,17-25, *Oct 16 UCF L ,13-25,25-12,25-19, *Oct 21 at East Carolina W ,25-22,26-28, *Oct 23 at CINCINNATI W ,25-19, *Oct 26 UCONN W ,25-22, *Oct 28 MEMPHIS W ,25-13,25-23,16-25, *Nov 04 at Houston W ,25-22, *Nov 06 at Tulane W ,25-11, Record in 3-set matches: 9-1 Record in 4-set matches: 5-1 Record in 5-set matches: 4-4

6 2016 TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL STATISTICS - CONFERENCE ONLY 2016 Temple Volleyball Temple Combined Team Statistics (as of Nov 06, 2016) Conference matches RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL ALL GAMES CONFERENCE NON-CONFERENCE Attack Set Serve Dig Blocking Player sp k k/s e ta pct a a/s sa se sa/s re dig dig/s bs ba total blk/s be bhe points 1 ASCI, Irem RAPACZ, Izzy DAVIS, Tyler OVERTON, Kirsten DEAK, Iva COUNDOURIDES, Kyr SIMMONS, Janine GUENNEWIG, Carla GRATTAN, Caroline PERIC, Dara VANDEGRIFT, Hannah HEIRAKUJI, Mia TEAM TEMPLE Opponents Team Statistics TEMPLE OPP ATTACK Kills Errors Total Attacks Attack Pct Kills/Set SET Assists Assists/Set SERVE Aces Errors Aces/Set SERVE RECEPTIONS Errors Errors/Set DEFENSE Digs Digs/Set BLOCKING Block Solo Block Assist Total Blocks Blocks/Set Block Errors Ball handling errors ATTENDANCE Total Dates/Avg Per Date 6/458 8/296 Neutral site /Avg 0/0 Current win streak 6 - Home win streak 2 - Date Opponent Score Score by set Att. *Sep 23 TULANE L ,25-22,19-25,25-22, *Sep 25 HOUSTON W ,25-21,25-17, *Sep 28 at UConn W ,26-24,19-25,23-25, *Oct 02 at Memphis W ,21-25,25-17,25-19, *Oct 07 at Tulsa W ,25-20, *Oct 09 at SMU W ,25-23,21-25,19-25, *Oct 14 USF L ,17-25, *Oct 16 UCF L ,13-25,25-12,25-19, *Oct 21 at East Carolina W ,25-22,26-28, *Oct 23 at CINCINNATI W ,25-19, *Oct 26 UCONN W ,25-22, *Oct 28 MEMPHIS W ,25-13,25-23,16-25, *Nov 04 at Houston W ,25-22, *Nov 06 at Tulane W ,25-11, Record in 3-set matches: 5-1 Record in 4-set matches: 2-0 Record in 5-set matches: 4-2

7 HEAD COACH BAKEER GANESHARATNAM 6th Season Queens Career Record Year Totals Overall Conf Finish 2nd AAC T-2nd AAC 6th AAC 5th A-10 8th A-10 In six years on North Broad Street, Bakeer Ganesharatnam has turned Temple volleyball into a high-level program at the top of the American. Over Ganesharatnam s tenure, Temple has continually surpassed expectations and has now proven itself as a top team in a strong conference. Most recently, Ganesharatnam s 2015 squad recorded a 24-8 overall record, including a 15-5 mark in the American Athletic Conference. The Owls finished alone in second in the conference, having defeated each conference opponent at least once during the season, while also recording seven-straight wins to close the season. The 2015 squad tied the 2014 team for wins, the program s best record since Individually, Temple boasted two American Player of the Week selections in junior Kirsten Overton and sophomore, while seven Temple players accounted for 11 American Weekly Honor Roll selections. In year-end awards, senior Sandra Sydlik, junior Kirsten Overton, and sophomore were named to the All-Conference first team, while sophomore Izzy Rapacz was named to the All-Conference second team. Ganesharatnam s stellar 2015 campaign was built off of succes the team had during a record-setting 2014 season. The Owls finished 24-8 overall, tying for second place in the American Athletic Conference, and compiling the program s best record in 12 years. The Owls had a number of big wins in 2014, including knocking off conference champion and NCAA team, UCF. As far as individual accolades, Temple earned a conference and program record five All-Conference sections in Sydlik was named to the first team, while sophomore Tyler Davis, senior Jennifer Iacobini, Overton, and freshman Dara Peric earned second-team honors. Temple also boasted the American Athletic Conference Setter of the Year in Sydlik and the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in Peric. Sydlik later went on to earn the program s first All-Region mention since In 2013, Temple finished at overall to mark its second-straight season with a winning percentage of.600 or better. After being picked to finish seventh in the newly-created American Athletic Conference, the Owls bettered that by one and placed sixth with a record of 9-9. Ganesharatnam s 2012 squad finished at overall and advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament after not earning a spot in the tournament since The improvement from an 8-20 season in 2011 to a season in 2012 ranked as the seventh-best differential among all NCAA Division I volleyball teams. Perhaps most impressive was the similarity in personnel between the teams of 2011 and 2012, as five of seven starters returned. Chelsea Tupuola was named the A-10 Libero of the Year, while Matautia earned A-10 First Team honors. The team was largely underestimated prior to the season, getting picked to finish 11th of 12 teams in the conference. The Owls proved that placement to be undeserved, as they went on to finish fifth in the league. Among other highlights in a strong season, the Owls recorded digs per set to rank 15th among all NCAA Division I teams, and Temple won its first-ever Big 5 Tournament in the event s four-year history, defeating Penn and La Salle and taking Villanova to five sets. The success of 2012 followed a more moderate but important step in Ganesharatnam s first season. The 2011 Owls finished at 8-20 overall, a marked improvement over the season before his arrival. The team served up 78 aces in A-10 matches to lead all teams, and then-sophomore Elyse Burkert Proving that he is as committed to his student-athletes success in the classroom as he is to their success on the court, the team s grade-point-average has improved significantly in the years since Ganesharatnam s arrival. In the fall of 2010, the semester GPA for the team was Ganesharatnam took over the reins in the spring of 2011, and by the end of his first fall semester, the team posted a GPA of During the second season of competition under Ganes, the Owls posted a GPA of 3.32, and in the spring of 2013 it jumped all the way up to 3.45, showing more than a four-tenths improvement in two years. In 2014, the Owls had the highest GPA of any American Athletic Conference squad, recording a Prior to his arrival at Temple in January, 2011, Ganesharatnam spent five years as an assistant coach at West Virginia University. He served for three seasons as a full-time assistant with the Mountaineers after two prior years as a graduate assistant coach. As an assistant, Ganesharatnam served as the recruiting coordinator and worked with the players on skill development, as well as dealt with scheduling responsibilities. One year after Ganesharatnam s transition to full-time assistant, the 2009 Mountaineers finished with their best overall record in five years, 17-13, and won six Big East games which ranked as the most since In 2010 the team finished and took the title at its own WVU Classic early in the season with a perfect 4-0 record. Before his stint at WVU, Ganesharatnam served as an assistant coach at Cedar Valley College in Grand Prairie, Texas, for one season. He helped the Suns reach their co-conference championship in the season. His duties included assisting the head coach with all aspects of the program, including recruiting, practice and competition preparation, summer camps and travel arrangements, as well as alumni outreach and fundraising. In addition to his duties as an assistant coach at CVC, Ganesharatnam also served as the head coach of the 17 s ACE Elite Team at Arlington Courts in Dallas, Texas. Ganesharatnam was not a stranger to Temple when he arrived, having worked summer camps in 2005 and 2006 with former head coach Bob Bertucci. He completed his bachelor s degree in political science with minors in economics and German from Queens College in He played four years of volleyball there while pursuing his degree. While having a standout career at Queens, he was also a four-year letterwinner and helped the Knights to two conference championships. Ganesharatnam was born in Sri Lanka, but moved to Germany when he was five. He has been playing volleyball since he was nine. In Germany, he competed on a very successful club team from 1990 to 2000, VFL Sindelfingen, winning the regional championship and the state championship many times. Ganesharatnam and his team also made numerous appearances at the national championship. Ganesharatnam received his master s degree in athletic coaching education in 2007 from WVU.