TAMPA, Fla. (Oct. 30, 2005) ? In the first ever meeting between BIG EAST rivals, the USF volleyball team lost to UConn, 3-0 (30-16, 30-25, 33-31), at The Corral Sunday afternoon.

“I'm pleased with the emotion and heart the team left out there in game three,” USF coach Claire Lessinger said. “Those are the little baby steps that the team is making. It's just unfortunate that when it comes down to the end we just can't find that way to win. I know that's frustrating for them and it's hard when we don't do it to gain confidence in our abilities.”

USF's (3-18, 1-10 BIG EAST) misplays played a key factor in its low offensive production, as it committed 20 more attacking errors than UConn

The Bulls could not match up to UConn's all-around solid play. The Huskies out-hit USF .360 to .138 in the match, while dominating the Bulls in blocks, netting 13.0 to USF's 3.0.

Sophomore Kristina Fabris paced the way for the Bulls on the offensive side, posting 15 kills for her 20th double-digit kill match of the year. Junior Johari Williams chipped in 10 kills and 11 digs for her eighth-career double-double. Williams' 11 digs led the team in that defensive category.

The Huskies (12-12, 4-6 BIG EAST) got their offense going early, hitting a stellar .633 while holding USF to a match-low .091 in game one, out-scoring USF 30-16 in the game.

The Bulls improved to hit .176 in game two, but UConn's offense kept out-playing USF, hitting .293 to take the 30-25 win.

In game three USF would not go quietly, getting its offense going while never letting the Huskies take more than a four-point advantage to start out. With the score 17-14 in Connecticut's favor, the Bulls scored three-straight points to tie it up. Both teams traded points back and forth until back-to-back kills by Williams and Kate Verhoff gave USF a 24-22 lead. UConn continued to answer back until the Bulls took their largest lead of the game, 29-25. With the game point up for grabs, the Bulls committed four-consecutive errors to allow the Huskies to tie it up at 29-29. With both teams trading points eventually tying up the score at 31-31, Connecticut pulled it out in the end, scoring two points off a USF error and a kill by Megan Crawley for the 33-31 win.

USF continues its homestand this weekend when it welcomes Cincinnati on Friday at 7 p.m. and then No. 6 Louisville on Sunday at 2 p.m.