USF-Toledo Box Score  /   USF-James Madison Box Score

TAMPA - - The University of South Florida volleyball team used a pair of victories on Saturday at The Corral to secure the Best Western Invitational championship after a perfect 4-0 run throughout the weekend.

In the first match, the Bulls took down Toledo in a tight four-setter, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21, 25-20. 

During the latter half of the day's double-header, USF swept the Dukes of James Madison by a score of 25-22, 26-24, 25-17.

Sophomore setter Mariana Thon was named MVP of the Invitational after totaling 139 assists, 37 digs, 11 kills, 10 aces and seven block assists.

“I was really pleased with her confidence, poise and the way she ran our offense,” said Lessinger.  “She did everything we asked her to do and she allowed her natural athleticism to take over.”

All-American outside hitter Marcela Gurgel was also recognized as a member of the All-Tournament team after a weekend that included three double-doubles.


USF-Toledo

Thon led the Bulls with a performance that goes down as one of the finest in her young career.  Her 48 assists were joined in the stat sheet by a career-high 16 digs and also set a career-best mark in aces with five. 

Twenty-two of Thon's 48 assists went to Gurgel, who combined those kills with 10 digs for her 30th career double-double. 

Alli O'Connor put together a dozen kills on the match and picked up nine digs against the Rockets.  The freshman from Louisville saw a great deal of playing time this weekend and came out and performed well.

Senior middle blocker Nakia Williams was a force at the net both offensively and defensively against Toledo.  The Bowie, Md. native pounded down nine kills and hit effectively with a .467 attack percentage.  Williams also was a key blocker for the Bulls as she rejected four attacks by Rockets during the match.

Williams' four block assists were second to only teammate Allie Boaz, who with five, set a season-high.  Boaz was solid coming from the right side too with seven kills.

Stephanie Augustavo worked hard against a good attacking team in Toledo and wound up with a match-high 21 digs.

In the first set, USF and Toledo matched each other nearly point-for-point through the first half as the Bulls led by a narrow margin at 16-15.  Gurgel got a rally started for the Bulls though with a crosscourt kill that earned USF a sideout and sent Thon back to serve.  Thon would record aces in three of the next four points to cap a Bulls' the 5-0 run they needed to provide some cushion late in the set.  The first set ended in the green and gold's favor at 25-18 after a Boaz kill off of a bump set from Augustavo.

Set number two started with a USF serving error to fall behind 1-0, and the Rockets never looked back.  Toledo never trailed in the set and wound up with the seven-point advantage when it wrapped up.

It was only the second time all season that the Bulls have dropped a set at home, with the other coming to Northeastern also in the second set of that match.  Like in the match against the Huskies of NU though, the Bulls came out of the locker room fired up to protect their home floor. 

Tied at 18-18 in the third, the Bulls capitalized off of an attack error by a Rocket to take the slim lead, but it was a lead that USF would not relinquish.  The home team took the next two points off of a block by Boaz and Kelsey Palmer then a Gurgel kill to push ahead 21-18.  Toledo tried to make things interesting while trailing at 22-20 but Boaz took over with back-to-back kills to bring up set point for USF.  The third set wrapped up with a Nakia Williams kill off of a quick set by Thon to take the 2-1 set advantage.

Like the third set, the fourth was neck-and-neck throughout roughly the first half of it with the two squads evened up at 16 apiece.  The Bulls reeled in a 4-0 run at that point though off of three Rocket attack errors and an Augustavo ace to lead 20-16.  The set and the match ended after Williams and O'Connor put together kills for the 24th and 25th points for Bulls respectively. 

The win allowed USF's record to jump to 8-5 on the year while Toledo fell to 3-1 on the Invitational and 7-5 on the season.


USF-James Madison

In the match between the Bulls and the Dukes, Thon was once again a star.  Her 27 assists combined with a perfect three-for-three in attacks alongside five digs and four block assists.

“I think in all four games, we played really well and everyone did their role,” said Thon. 

Gurgel hammered down 15 kills to lead the match and dug 10 attacks for yet another double-double.  It was the 31st of her career and sixth of this season through the Bulls' 14 matches. 

Williams provided eight kills for the team with four total blocks (one solo, three assists). 

O'Connor was outstanding with her serves during the match, putting together a career-high four aces.  In the other statistics, she equaled her five kills with the same amount of digs versus the Dukes.          

The Bulls hopped out in the first set up 2-0 after Williams and Gurgel both recorded a kill.  USF held onto that lead up until 5-4 when a big rally started thanks to four consecutive Dukes' errors and a Boaz kill to spread the count out to 10-4.  James Madison was able to claw their way back into it and used a 8-3 run to slide ahead by two at 18-16.  The Dukes shot themselves in the foot six times throughout the rest of the set though with errors allowing USF to come back and squeeze out the 25-22 set win to take the 1-0 lead.

The second set proved to be even closer than the first set, with the teams needing to go extra points to decide it.  All knotted up at 24-24, Gurgel got the sideout for the Bulls with a smash then an attack error by JMU's Kelsey McNamara gave the energetic USF crowd a big reason to cheer as their beloved squad led 2-0 heading into the intermission.

Set number three got underway with a quick 3-0 thanks to an O'Connor ace and two attack errors by the Dukes.  USF never trailed in the set and closed out the set, match and perfect weekend off of a block by Alli Arbogast and Thon.

USF, with the victory, went 4-0 on the weekend and moved to 9-5 on the season. 

“This has been a very productive non-conference schedule,” said Lessinger.  “Although there are five losses, we have learned something big from each of them and now we have to gear up for the conference season where we get to open up against some great teams.  We have built a lot of confidence and momentum from this weekend's tournament and hope that is able to carry over.”

Their perfect home record is intact at 7-0 but it will be put on the line this upcoming Friday evening against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as BIG EAST play gets underway.

“I think it's a reflection of our home environment and how fun it is for us to play here,” said Lessinger about staying unbeaten at The Corral.  “Winning at home is something we take a lot of pride in.”

Along with the Notre Dame match on Friday night, the Bulls will face off with the DePaul Blue Demons on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 1 p.m.  Both matches will be brought to the fans by a video and audio feed through USF Press Pass.