Bulls announce 14-match schedule for spring, including eight conference tests and nine home matches.
TAMPA, JAN. 11, 2021 – A new era of USF volleyball will begin on Jan. 22 as first-year Bulls head coach Jolene Shepardson and her team begin a 14-game regular season schedule that will be heavy on American Athletic Conference opponents and feature nine home matches at The Corral.
“It has been a bit longer coming than any of us expected, but we feel very fortunate and are very excited to return to competition this spring,” said Shepardson, who led USF to its last NCAA Tournament appearance as a student-athlete in 2002. “Our players and coaches worked very hard during the fall and are ready to take the court and compete this spring.”
The Bulls’ schedule, moved from the fall to the spring due to the pandemic, will be abbreviated with 14 matches against seven opponents, eight of those matches being conference tests and six nonconference matchups. Two matches will be played against each opponent, with those games occurring on weekend dates in either a Friday-Saturday or Thursday-Friday combination.
All of the Bulls home matches on the season will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform. Fan attendance policies for home matches will be announced at a later date.
USF will begin the season on the road on Fri., Jan. 22 with a 3 p.m. match at North Florida. Both teams will then travel from Jacksonville for a Sat., Jan. 23 match at The Corral slated for a 4 p.m. first serve.
FGCU comes to Tampa for matches on Fri., Jan. 29 and Sat., Jan. 30 in The Corral, both set for a 4 p.m. first serve.
Conference action begins on Fri., Feb. 12 when Temple comes to The Corral. The second match on the weekend will be played on Sat., Feb. 13, with both set for a 1 p.m. start.
The Bulls will hit the road and leave the state of Florida for the only time on the regular season for games Thurs., Feb. 18 and Fri., Feb. 19 at ECU set for a 6 p.m. and 2 p.m. start, respectively.
Cincinnati, which went 27-7 in 2019 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, comes to Tampa for matches on Thur., March 4 and Friday, March 5 in The Corral, both set for 4 p.m. starts.
The Bulls will play a nonconference series against American Athletic Conference member Tulane on Fri., March 19 and Sat., March 20 at The Corral, both set for 1 p.m. starts. Conference members are only playing eight conference matches in 2020-21, so the series with the Green Wave was scheduled outside of conference action.
USF will wrap up the regular season with a return to conference action against defending AAC champion UCF. The War On I-4 matchup will be played in Orlando on Fri., March 26 and Sat., March 27, both with 7 p.m. starts.
The Bulls return nine players from a team that went 7-23 (1-15 in the AAC) in 2019. Seven new additions to the roster, including five freshmen, will bolster the 2020-21 roster. Among the returners are 6-4 sophomore middle Ally Barnhart (Lenexa, Kan.), who led the team in blocks (91) and was fourth in kills (132), junior defensive specialist CC Clausen (The Woodlands, Texas), who led the team with 449 digs and 28 service aces, and 6-3 outside hitter Jac St. Cin (St. Petersburg), who ranked third with 254 kills and 58 blocks.
Sophomore middle blocker Makayla Washington (Tallahassee) and setter Maria Idjilov (Republic of Moldova) were unanimously voted team captains entering the season. Washington, who led Leon HS to a Class 8A state title tallying 431 kills and 113 blocks, missed last season due to injury and will be a big presence at the net, while Idjilov, a transfer from Panola College where she was named Conference Setter of the Year and recorded 2,263 assists in two seasons, looks to be the cog of the USF offense.
The American Athletic Conference and ESPN began a new 12-year television rights agreement starting in 2020-21. USF will stream numerous home athletic events to ESPN+ this spring. Subscriptions for the ESPN+ app are $5.99 monthly or $49.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+ streaming services. A step-by-step guide for subscribing to ESPN+ is located here.
About USF Women’s Volleyball
Head coach Jolene Shepardson begins her first season at the helm of her alma mater in 2020-21. Named head coach on Jan. 8, 2020, Shepardson led the Bulls’ program to its last conference championship and NCAA tournament appearance as a student-athlete in 2002. USF made its last postseason appearance in 2018, posting 20 wins and appearing in the NIVC. USF Volleyball has made seven NCAA Tournament appearances and won 12 conference titles since its inception in 1972 and is entering its 49th campaign in 2020-21. The Bulls play in The Corral (1,000), adjacent to the Yuengling Center on the USF campus.
Be sure to follow USF women’s volleyball on social media (Twitter/Instagram/Facebook) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.
– #GoBulls –
2021 USF VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE
Friday Jan. 22 at UNF 3 p.m.
Saturday Jan. 23 vs. UNF 4 p.m. ESPN+
Friday Jan. 29 vs. FGCU 4 p.m. ESPN+
Saturday Jan. 30 vs. FGCU 4 p.m. ESPN+
Friday Feb. 12 vs. Temple* 1 p.m. ESPN+
Saturday Feb. 13 vs. Temple* 1 p.m. ESPN+
Thursday Feb. 18 at ECU* 6 p.m.
Friday Feb. 19 at ECU* 2 p.m.
Thursday March 4 vs. Cincinnati* 4 p.m. ESPN+
Friday March 5 vs. Cincinnati* 4 p.m. ESPN+
Friday March 19 vs. Tulane+ 1 p.m. ESPN+
Saturday March 20 vs. Tulane+ 1 p.m. ESPN+
Friday March 26 at UCF* 7 p.m.
Saturday March 27 at UCF* 7 p.m.
•Conference matches
+ Scheduled as a nonconference series
