TAMPA, Fla. (Nov. 25, 2006) ? The University of South Florida volleyball team closed out its 2006 season playing NCAA Tournament-bound Florida A&M tough, but in the end lost, 3-1 (30-26, 30-28, 27-30, 30-28), on Saturday night at The Corral.
With her 16 kills in the match, junior Kristina Fabris reached and surpassed the 1,000-career kill mark. The Ontario, Canada, native sealed the game-three victory for USF, as the kill that gave the Bulls the win was her 1,000th. She is only the 10th player in history to accomplish the feat and sits in 10th place in the USF career record books with 1,004 kills.
“I was pleased with the fight that our team showed in games two and three, and that's what I challenged them to do?to come out and play USF volleyball,” coach Claire Lessinger said. “I felt like they did that and they proved when they turn it on that they are a pretty darn good team. It was fun to see them end on a high note and compete with a team that is going to the NCAA Tournament. Credit Kristina, obviously, on a rewarding night where she got her 1,000th kill. That's just proof of what a dominant player she's been for us and not only this conference but this program. I look forward to another year with her.”
In their final game, seniors Johari Williams and Ashley Reavis ended their careers on a high note. Williams tied Fabris for the team-best with 16 kills and Reavis recorded her 17th-career double-digit kill match with 13.
Senior steer Juliana Nogueira also a stellar outing in her finale, hitting a team-high .417 while collecting 52 assists.
Defensively, libero Stephanie Augustavo paced the way with 17 digs, and Fabris chipped in 15 digs for her 19th-career double-double.
The Bulls (12-17) and the Lady Rattlers (21-6) were evenly matched in the contest and battled each other from the beginning, with games two and four decided by two points. FAMU only had a slight edge against USF in hitting percentage (.290-.258) and blocks (10.0-9.0), but in the end the Lady Rattlers came up with 11 more digs than USF (62-51) and that led to the extra scoring chances.
After USF was trailing FAMU 2-0, the Bulls came into the third set needing to spark its offense. USF looked like it couldn't get its offensive rhythm into motion early on, trailing by as many as five points, 12-7. USF managed to tie the game at 15-15, but the Lady Rattlers would not relinquish the lead and regained a three-point advantage. After USF cut the deficit down to one, 21-20, Florida A&M looked like they were going to close out the match, going on a 4-1 run to take a 25-21 lead. USF thought differently though and used a 9-2 run, including back-to-back kills by Fabris to win the set 30-27.
After USF opened up game four with a 3-1 lead, FAMU took control of the match and jumped out to a four-point lead, 11-7. USF managed to work itself back into the game and tied the score on six different occasions before taking the lead, 23-22. After both teams traded points with neither one taking more than a two-point lead, FAMU got the close victory, winning 30-28.
