CINCINNATI (Nov. 17, 2006) ? The No. 8-seed University of South Florida volleyball team was eliminated from the BIG EAST Championship in the quarterfinals with a 3-0 (31-29, 30-15, 30-21) loss to No. 1-seed St. John's on Friday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Bulls (12-16, 7-7 BIG EAST) opened up the match strong and nearly won the first game, but struggled in game two. USF bounced back in game three and played its opponent close, but the St. John's (30-1, 14-0 BIG EAST) offense turned it on when needed and clinched the victory.
“I was really pleased with how we started the match,” coach Claire Lessinger said. “One thing that we wanted to do was to come out and compete, and the fire that I saw in our girls' eyes prior to the start was just something different that I hadn't seen in eight matches. They believed that they could beat this team and they played like it game one. I think coming up short and not closing that game out when we had the opportunities was so deflating and unfortunately that showed in game two. We just scraped back in game three to try and give ourselves some momentum. I was real pleased with the way this team played when they got here against the No. 1 seed and I credit our blocking because of it. We really did a great job of containing their hitters and giving ourselves opportunities.”
Although USF was out-hit .257 to .101 in the match, what proved to be a key factor in the Bulls' game one and three successes were their efforts at the net. The Bulls netted three blocks in game one and five in game three. USF came up with its defensive stops at crucial times, which shifted the momentum in the Bulls' favor.
Senior Johari Williams had an all-around solid match for the Bulls, posting team-highs with 10 kills, a .389 hitting percentage and five block assists. Junior Kristina Fabris chipped in nine kills and tied sophomore Nakia Williams for second with four block assists. All-conference honoree Marcela Gurgel led all players with 14 digs, while adding eight kills.
Game one was close from the start, as it featured seven tie scores and four lead changes. With the score 8-8, St. John's put the game in its favor by using a 5-2 run to take a 13-10 lead. The Bulls didn't trail for long as they reclaimed the advantage, using a 6-2 run to take a 16-14 lead. The Red Strom managed to score back-to-back points to tie the game, but USF countered with a 3-0 run for a 19-16 lead. USF maintained the lead for a while, holding off St. John's comeback attempts. With USF ahead 29-26 and only needing one point for the game win, the Red Storm offense sparked and scored five straight points to fend off the USF upset and win 31-29.
USF could not build from its momentum in the first set and carry it into game two, trailing form the start. St. John's offensive attack only got better in the second set and took a commanding lead, in which the Bulls never came close to evening up. The Red Storm took the second game, 30-15, thanks to hitting .484 to USF's .026.
The Bulls bounced back from the game-two loss and played St. John's close at the start of game three. After there were four ties and two lead changes, the Red Storm went on a 9-1 run to take an eight-point lead, 13-5. Both teams traded points to put the score at 17-9 and then the Bulls sparked their offense to go on a 6-0 run to come within two points of the lead, 17-15. St John's continued to stay in the lead, but USF would not let the Red Storm take more than a three-point advantage. With the score 21-19, the Bulls comeback was warded off by St. John's, as the Red Storm closed out game three on 9-2 run for the 30-21 win and match victory.
The Bulls will return home for their final match of the season when they welcome Florida A&M to The Corral on Nov. 25 at 5 p.m.
