University of South Florida
St. John's
Bulls Fall to St. Johns, Clinch #6 Seed
November 11, 2007 | Women's Volleyball
TAMPA, Fla. ? Despite a strong comeback after the intermission, USF (17-9, 8-6 BIG EAST) fell short in their bid to upset #21 St. John's (28-3, 13-1 BIG EAST), losing 3-1 (30-23, 30-16, 28-30, 30-26) on Sunday at The Corral.
The Bulls will be the #6 seed in the BIG EAST Conference Tournament, facing #3 Villanova, scheduled for Friday, November 16th at 7 p.m. at the Al McGuire Center on the campus of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
In her final conference match in The Corral on Senior Day, Kristina Fabris posted 16 kills and 9 digs for one of the Bulls finest performances. Outside hitter Marcela Gurgel also continued her run of impressive play to close the conference season, putting 17 balls away on a .263 attack percentage. But the most statistically impressive Bulls were middle blockers Nakia Williams and Alli Arbogast. The junior Williams tallied nine kills against two errors on 14 attacks for a gaudy .500 percentage, and the sophomore Arbogast chipped in 10 block assists to shatter the Bulls record for block assists in a season with 144, breaking Erica Berggren's 12 year old record of 135.
“I went into the locker room saying that I thought we lost our identity,” said Bulls coach Claire Lessinger. “This team is a passionate team that plays with a lot of emotion. We needed to come out and play with our personalities. And I thought we did that. Kristina Fabris came out of the locker room and put on an offensive clinic for us. And we proved we can play with St. John's. We fought them all the way to the end, and I'm really pleased with how we turned around the match.”
It was an impressive performance by St. John's, which saw four players tally 13 or more kills with a team hitting percentage of .318, while also outdigging the Bulls 59 to 42.
Game one saw the Red Storm engulf the court, attacking from all points. Five team blocks from the Bulls as well as a hot start from Gurgel hot start with five kills against just one error on nine swings would not be enough. The Red Storm registered 19 kills in the frame, led by Latoya Blunt with six and Dana Demayo with five, and outhit the Bulls .364 to .235.
Game two saw much of the same, with St. John's finding the USF defense porous, hitting .500 on 17 kills against three errors on 28 attacks. The Bulls trailed the entire game, with St. John's turning a 10-5 lead into a 20-10 advantage during a pivotal stretch. Three kills each from Fabris, Gurgel, and Williams were not enough to stem the tide.
USF showed a renewed vigor in game three, finding momentum behind their two offensive leaders and improved defense at the net. Outblocking the visitors 5-0, USF found 12 of their 16 kills via Fabris' seven and Gurgel's five, and outhit the Red Storm for the only time in the match, .286 to .283. The Bulls trailed 18-14, but on the serve of the senior Fabris on Senior Day, rallied to take a 19-18 lead behind two kills, two St. John's errors, and two inspirational blocks from the tandem of setter Mariana Thon and Nakia Williams. The Bulls last two kills were also registered by Fabris to claim the last frame of her conference career in The Corral.
An excellent effort also came from the Bulls in game four, again finding their rhythm at the net outblocking St. John's five to three. It was nip and tuck the entire way, with the score tied at 15 and again at 20, but St. John's was able to force some crucial Bulls errors down the stretch with outstanding defense and blocking, as well as two USF errors while attempting to serve aggressively.
You can watch the Bulls in their tournament run via BIGEAST.tv, which is offering access to streaming and play-by-play of all tournament matches for $9.95 via their website. GoUSFBulls.com will also offer exclusive coverage all week as the team prepares to challenge the best of the BIG EAST, with special content both from both Tampa and Milwaukee.
