TAMPA, Fla. (Nov. 4, 2005) ?The University of South Florida volleyball team couldn't get its offense going against BIG EAST foe Cincinnati and dropped the match to the Bearcats, 3-0 (30-16, 30-19, 30-15) Friday night at The Corral.
Despite suffering the loss, some good came out of the night as the match was the designated “Dig for the Cure” game in which the volleyball team raised money for the H. Lee Moffit Cancer Center and Research Institute with every dig it posted. Throughout the season fans made a monetary pledge and the Bulls came up big defensively, netting 41 digs to help this great cause.
Kristina Fabris led the way for USF posting 13 digs in the match.
“I was pleased with Kristina's defensive night,” USF coach
Claire Lessinger said. “She had 13 digs and it was ?Dig for Cure.' That is something we came in really motivated about and 41 digs for a team is still raising a good amount of money. That's what this night was really focused on so it can go to a good cause.”
The estimated monetary amount the Bulls raised for the charity will be released next week.
Sophomore Fabris led the way for USF offensively as well, tallying her 10th-career double-double in a 10-kill, 13-dig outing. The double-digit-kill match also marked the 21st of the season for the Ontario, Canada, native, as she has had 10-or-more kills in every match except one.
Cincinnati, Ohio, native
Ashley McDowell put together the best hitting percentage on the team, hitting .333. The freshman converted 12 attacks into four kills and didn't commit one error on the night.
USF (3-19, 1-11 BIG EAST) got off to a slow offensive start in game one and it continued to struggle throughout the entire match, as it hit .066 overall. Hitting in the negative for game one, -.029, the Bulls improved to a game-high .219 in game two, but digressed to .026 in the final set.
Cincinnati's (17-8, 8-3 BIG EAST) offense came out strong and only continued to get better, putting together a .421 hitting percentage in the match. After hitting .324 in game one, the Bearcats improved to .436 in game two and then closed out the match posting a stellar .500 in game three.
What really hurt the Bulls offensively was the 22 attacking errors they compiled compared to Cincinnati's eight. In total, USF committed 16 more misplays than the Bearcats.
Freshman Jessie Nevitt was the Bearcats' offensive leader, hitting a team-high .652 in a 16-kill night. The middle blocker chipped in three block solos to lead the team in that defensive category.
The Bulls will welcome No. 7 Louisville to The Corral on Sunday at 2 p.m.
