EAST LANSING, Mich. (Sept. 3, 2005) ? Wichita State showed the University of South Florida volleyball team exactly how it made it to the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament, defeating the Bulls, 3-0 (30-14, 30-14, 30-20), in the final day of the Michigan State Spartan Invitational.
Wichita State out-played USF in just about every statistical category. In kills, the Shockers had 50 compared to USF's 34. In hitting percentage, Wichita State tallied .433 in the match to the Bulls' .086, and the Shockers had eight aces while USF had one. For the second day the Bulls' misplays ? 16 more than the Shockers ? hurt the team, who opened up the season with a 0-3 record.
Kate Verhoff put together another stellar performance as the Bulls' setter, registering four kills, 26 assists and a hitting percentage of .800.
Kristina Fabris led the team with 12 kills and nine digs.
Ashley McDowell, a freshman, had a break-out match for the Bulls, tallying a season-high eight kills and 21 total attacks.
Wichita State (3-3) used a 15-4 run to open up game one and never looked back. After that Shocker run, the closest the Bulls came to cutting the deficit was by 10 points. In the end Wichita State defeated USF by 16 points, 30-14, to win the first game. Fabris led the Bulls in kills, posting six, while hitting an impressive .500 in the game. However that wasn't enough for USF as the Shockers had three players, Darci Vohs, Elizabeth Meyers and Jen Ray, that hit above .800 in the game. Overall Wichita State out-hit the Bulls, .475 compared to .167.
The second game looked much like the first, with Wichita State beating the Bulls 30-14. The Shockers dominated USF in hitting percentage, tallying .481 in the game whereas the Bulls' dropped in the negative, -.027. USF also gave up 10 points because of misplays compared to the two attack errors the Shockers made. McDowell made the most impact in the game, notching five kills on nine attacks for a hitting percentage of .444.
In game three the Bulls looked like a different squad on the court, keeping the game close to open it up. USF had a 13-12 lead before an 18-7 run by Wichita State ended the game and completed the sweep of the Bulls. The Shockers took advantage of nine misplays by USF their final run that clinched the victory. USF was out-hit by Wichita State, .333 to the Bulls' .132. The Shockers had only one player with a negative hitting percentage whereas USF had three.
In other news, Verhoff was named to the MSU Invitational All-Tournament Team. In her freshman debut, she tallied 113 assists for a 10.27 assists-per-game average, while adding 11 kills for 18 total attacks. The Elyria, Ohio, native led the team in aces with eight and finished second on the team in hitting percentage, posting .389. She played and started in all 11 games while tallying 21 digs ? third best on the team.
USF opens up its home portion of its schedule when it hosts the Best Western Tournament Friday through Saturday. The Bulls will face Appalachian State at 7 p.m. on Friday and, on Saturday, will take on FAU at 1 p.m. and Eastern Washington at 7 p.m.
