USF will face seven teams that played in the postseason last year
TAMPA, JULY 9, 2019 – Fresh off the program’s first postseason appearance since 2002, head coach Courtney Draper and the USF volleyball team will open their 2019 season on Aug. 30.
With a schedule filled with 30 matches against teams from 10 different conferences, USF will look to challenge itself following a 20-win season that ended in a trip to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
The Bulls return American Athletic Conference First Team outside hitter Jac’cara Walker and a plethora of young, yet experienced talent. Sophomore libero CC Clausen had 526 digs in 2018, the fifth most in USF’s single-season history. Sophomore setter Lauren LaBeck had 474 assists last year, averaging 34.4 over the final seven matches. Fellow sophomore Lindsey Pliapol finished fourth on the team last season with 221 kills and played in all 32 matches. Redshirt junior middle blocker Nyemba Musemuna had a breakout 2018 with career highs of 106 kills and 91 blocks.
USF welcomes 10 newcomers to the fray in 2019 in the form of three transfers and seven freshmen.
First Serve
The Bulls open the season on the road for the first time since 2016, as they head to Muncie, Ind. USF begins the 2019 slate against UAB on Aug. 30, the 45th meeting overall, but first since 2004. The Bulls then take on tournament host, Ball St., later that evening. The Cardinals finished 22-10 last year and like USF, also appeared in the NIVC.
“It is really important to us to take our players back home to play and we are doing just that opening up at Ball State for Nyemba to compete in front of her home town crowd,” said Draper. “I think that opening weekend will be a great test for us out of the gate.”
Nonconference Grind
Splitting time on the road and at home over the next 14 matches, USF remains in the state of Florida for the entirety of September. Tournament action continues with a trip to Coral Gables, Fla., for the Hurricane Invitational Sept. 6-7. The Bulls open with reigning ASUN champion FGCU, which won its opening match of the NCAA Tournament. USF faces Auburn to start the final day of the invitational, then takes on host Miami later that night.
“The Miami tournament will be very competitive and it will be great for us to play some of the best teams in the state of Florida,” said Draper.
The Bulls have their first home match on Sept. 10 against North Florida. USF is back on the road that weekend for the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Sept. 13-14. The Bulls open the weekend with host Florida. The Gators have won no fewer than 25 matches in each of the last 28 years. The Bulls and Florida will meet for the 45th time and first time since 2009. USF takes on Long Beach State later that day for just the third time in program history. The tournament concludes with James Madison on the following day. The Dukes went 22-7 in 2018.
“It is always a great experience to play in Gainesville, as they fill their dome and continue to be one of the top teams in the country,” said Draper. “With Jac’cara being our only senior this year and a Gainesville native, it will be really fun for her to also play in front of her hometown fans.”
USF begins a busy week at home on Sept. 17 with a midweek tilt against Jacksonville University. The Bulls then host the USF Invitational Sept. 20-21. USF faces Indiana for the second time in program history on the first day, then takes on the Hoosiers once more on the second day. Tournament play wraps up with Stetson in the nightcap on Sept. 21. The final nonconference tune-up is Sept. 24 at Bethune-Cookman.
“Indiana is a Big Ten team on the rise and we will have a tremendous opportunity to play them twice at home, in addition to Stetson, North Florida, and Jacksonville,” said Draper.
American Made
The American continues to improve each season, as five teams appeared in the postseason last year. USF opens up at home on Sept. 27 with Temple. USF hosts UConn on Sept. 29 to close out the month.
The Bulls will alternate home and road weekends during conference play from there, as they head to ECU (Oct. 4) and Cincinnati (Oct. 6). The first installment of the War on I-4 is in Tampa on Oct. 11. The Knights are the defending league champions, finishing with a 18-0 mark in The American. USF took its rivals to a five-set thriller last season at home. The Bulls then welcome SMU on Oct. 13.
The Bulls are at Tulsa (Oct. 18) and Wichita St. (Oct. 20) before home contests against Tulane (Oct. 25) and Houston (Oct. 27) conclude October. November begins with the second meeting with the Knights (Nov. 1) before a trip to Memphis (Nov. 3). The final weekend in Tampa welcomes Cincinnati (Nov. 8) and ECU (Nov. 10). The regular season finishes up north with matchups at UConn (Nov. 14) and Temple (Nov. 16).
“I am glad to be staying in state for much of the preseason, as our conference travel is fairly intense,” said Draper. “With the conference scheduling format changing, there will now be an east and a west division as well as a conference tournament.”
New Beginnings
The inaugural American Athletic Conference Tournament will be held Nov. 22-24 in Orlando. The league will be split into two divisions for the 2019 season. The top six teams will qualify for the tournament, as the top team from each division will receive a first-round bye.
“Our league will look very different this year than it has in the past,” said Draper. “I think that having a conference tournament will really keep our conference competitive throughout the entire season and there will always be something to play for. Our league graduated very few seniors and there will be several elite teams in our conference this year.”
Take a look at the complete 2019 Schedule.
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. Redshirt senior middle blocker Clara Payne became the seventh player in program history to reach 400 career blocks during the season and was named to the All-American Athletic Conference second team. Junior outside hitter Jac’cara Walker led USF with 394 kills and recorded her 1000thcareer kill during the year. She paced the Bulls with 15 double-doubles and was named first team all-conference.
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– #GoBulls –
Patrick Puzzo
Assistant Director of Communications
University of South Florida Athletics
GoUSFBulls.com
Twitter: @USFBaseball | @USFVolleyball | @USFSailingTeam
