TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL PLACES FOUR ON ALL A-10 CONFERENCE TEAMS

11/17/2005

Yue Liu

PHILADELPHIA - After clinching the Atlantic 10 East Division title, the Temple University volleyball team continues to rack up post season honors by placing four student-athletes on the A-10 All-Conference Teams. Senior Zhen Jia Liu and sophomore Yue Liu were voted to the A-10’s first team, while freshman Patricia Vernon earned a spot on the second team and on the All-Rookie team. Sophomore Christina DeMarco was named A-10 Honorable Mention.

Captain Zhen Jia Liu has been one of the keys to Temple’s success over the past four years. A 2004 first team All-Atlantic 10 selection, she has led Temple in kills the past two seasons and has compiled 978 career kills. Jia leads the team and is ranked second in the A-10 in kills with 461, averaging four per game and is third on the team with a .284 hitting percentage and is second in digs with 298. She was named to the Hofstra/Asics Invitational All-Tournament Team as well as the Rutgers Embassy Suites Invitational Team, in which she led Temple to a 3-1 performance.

Yue Liu continues to excel in the A-10 volleyball scene after earning Conference Rookie of the Year honors last season. Liu finished second on the team in kills (356) and third in digs (280). She earned A-10 and ECAC Player of the Week honors for the week ending October 23 after posting double doubles in hard fought matches against A-10 powerhouses Xavier and Dayton. The sophomore was also named to the Pizza Hut JayHawk Invitational Team.

Patricia Vernon was one of the most dominant players on the Temple team this season, garnering two A-10 Rookie of the Week nods for her outstanding play. She ranked third on the team in kills (266) and posted a .297 hitting percentage, good for a second place spot on the squad. She also was among the team leaders in blocks with 73.

Christina DeMarco led Temple in both hitting percentage and blocking throughout the season. The sophomore produced 260 kills with just 74 errors for a .334 hitting percentage and had 127 blocks to top the Owls. Her 36 service aces was also a team high.

Temple (22-9), the #2 seed, was the winner of the East Division with a final league mark of 11-2 and will meet third-seeded Xavier (10-3/19-10) in the semifinal round of the 2005 A-10 Championship at 7:00 pm.on Friday, November 18. The Owls finished the regular season riding an eight-match winning streak.