Box Score

Louisville, Ky. - - The University of South Florida volleyball team, playing in a road match on nationally-televised ESPNU, dropped a three-set decision to Louisville in Cardinal Arena, 23-25, 18-25, 18-25.

USF suffers its first sweep of the season and first since Oct. 7, 2007 at Marquette.  The loss drops the team to 15-10 overall and an even 5-5 in BIG EAST action.  Louisville remains in the hunt for the regular season title by moving up to 8-3 in conference play and 12-10 for the year.

The Bulls came out hot in the first set by combing as a squad for a .615 hitting percentage off of 17 kills and only one error off of 26 attacks.  However, Louisville jumped out on top by narrowly grabbing the set by a final of 25-23.

From there on out, USF's offense could not keep up its effectiveness and hit .097 in the second set and .000 in the third and final set of the match.

Marcela Gurgel was the lone Bull to amass double-digit kills in the match as she totaled 15, eight of which came in the first set.  Challenging for the nation's top spot in aces per set, she accumulated two more aces today to total four on the weekend.

The two other USF outsides, senior Cynthia Danthon and freshman Alli O' Connor, both had solid hitting days with percentages of .545 and .667 respectively.  For Danthon, it was the first time she has recorded a kill since the Samford match back on Sept. 13 as the native of France has now returned from an injury.

O' Connor, playing in front of a group of family and friends, had an errorless homecoming match.  The former Mercy Academy star from Louisville began with a powerful kill on the match's very first point and opened up the second set the exact same way.

Stephanie Augustavo had a match-high 14 digs in the losing effort against a very tall and physical Cardinal team.

Now in the middle of a four-match road stretch, the Bulls will hit the road again next weekend to face St. John's and Connecticut.