CORAL GABLES, Fla. (Sept. 6, 2019) – The USF volleyball team dropped its first match of the 2019 campaign on Friday losing a hard fought straight-set decision to Florida Gulf Coast (13-25, 17-25, 14-25) during the first day of the Hurricane Invitational at the University of Miami in Coral Gables.
The Bulls (2-1) battled throughout the three-set affair with the Eagles (4-0) in a match that had 15 ties and eight lead changes. USF recorded its best hitting percentage of the day in the final set (.385 percent) to go along with 13 kills.
Jac St. Cin (St. Petersburg, Fla.) led the Bulls with a .429 hitting percentage and had seven kills to share the team lead with Jac’cara Walker (Gainesville, Fla.).
Notables
– CC Clausen (The Woodlands, Texas) turned in a match-high 15 digs.
– Rafaela Biegelmeyer (Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil) had seven digs and five assists.
– Lauren LaBeck (Chicago, Ill.) posted a team-high 17 assists.
– Lindsey Pliapol (Daytona Beach, Fla.) had 13 digs against FGCU to go along with six kills.
Key Stats
.115 – Despite hitting at a .385 percent clip in the third set, the Bulls finished the match hitting just .115 percent.
Quotable
“FGCU is a great team who finished in the top 50 in the country last season and has a lot of experienced players back. We had a lot of long rallies and played the first half of each set really well, but could not sustain that in the second half of each set. We hit extremely well in the final set but We needed to have a more aggressive mentality in all areas of the game. We are still working through some lineup adjustments, but Lauren (LaBeck) did a nice job setting and (Jac) St. Cin made some great attacking decisions.” – USF head coach Courtney Draper
Up Next
USF will close out its weekend on Saturday, Sept. 7, when it faces Auburn at 11 a.m. and Miami at 5:30 p.m. during the final day of the Hurricane Invitational. The Bulls will return home to The Corral to face in-state foe North Florida on Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.
To purchase tickets for USF volleyball, or to purchase an Olympic Gold Pass which provides entry to all men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball home contests in 2019, visit USFBullsTix.com or call 1-800-GO-BULLS.
– #GoBulls –
About USF Volleyball
Head coach Courtney Draper led her team to 20 wins in 2018, the most in her time at USF and the most for the program since 2002. The Bulls appeared in the NIVC, the program’s first postseason trip since 2002. Senior outside hitter Jac’cara Walker led USF with 394 kills and recorded her 1000thcareer kill during the 2018 year, on her way to earning first team All-American Athletic Conference honors. USF returns four starters, including its libero, while welcoming 9 newcomers to the fray in 2019 in the form of two transfers and seven freshmen.
Follow the volleyball team on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.
