TAMPA, Fla. ? The University of South Florida volleyball team battled back from a 2-1 deficit to force a game five, but fell short of the comeback, losing to Florida Gulf Coast, 3-2 (30-28, 26-30, 30-25, 28-30, 15-13), at The Corral Wednesday night.
Both Marcela Gurgel and Kristina Fabris posted double-doubles in the match. Gurgel led the team with 20 kills and added 19 digs, while Fabris had 16 kills and digs, respectively.
Two other USF players had solid offensive outings, netting double figures in kills. Jarka Havlickova tallied 11 kills, falling one shy of her career high, while Erin Kracl set a new personal best with her 10-kill outing.
Defensively, libero Stephanie Augustavo led all players with 28 digs. At the net, sophomore Alli Arbogast posted 10 block assists and tied for ninth in the single-match record book.
It was a battle between both teams from the start of the match until the final point was scored. Despite the stats being close throughout, Florida Gulf Coast (17-2) came up with the kills when needed to put the Bulls away. The Eagles tallied seven more kills than the Bulls, 78-71, despite hitting .211 to USF's .205.
The Bulls (12-6) answer to the Eagles was their height at the net and they used it effectively. USF came up with 17.0 total blocks, which were six more than Florida Gulf Coast.
After losing game one by two points, 30-28, the Bulls rebounded in the second set. USF got its offense going in the game and out-hit its opponent .289 to .208. The Bulls were also strong defensively and came up with more digs and blocks than the Eagles. The Bulls posted 20 digs and 4.0 blocks to FGCU's 15 digs and 2.5 blocks.
USF could not carry its momentum into game three and lost 30-25. The Bulls attack struggled and the Eagles outplayed them, hitting .268 to USF's .143. Defensively, USF could not come up with as many digs as Florida Gulf Coast, netting 12 to the Eagles' 19.
Needing a win to force game five, the Bulls battled back and won the fourth set, 30-28. USF got the momentum back into its favor, coming up with big plays down the stretch and not committing costly errors. Trailing 22-18, the Bulls scored four quick points off of two Gurgel kills and two Kracl kills and knotted the score. After both teams traded points, the Bulls took the lead, 24-23, and maintained the lead the rest of the way.
In the fifth and final game, USF opened up with the early lead, 5-2. After the Eagles managed to tie the score on two occasions, the Bulls jumped back with the 13-10 advantage. USF couldn't fight off the FGCU comeback as the Eagles closed out the game on a 5-0 run for the match victory.
The Bulls will look to get back on the winning track when they travel to face Georgetown on Saturday at 1 p.m.
