University of South Florida
Notre Dame
Bulls Run Out Of Luck Against Irish
September 26, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
TAMPA - - In an extremely close match from the first serve on through the final point, the University of South Florida volleyball team fell in four sets to the visiting Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 22-25.
USF (9-6, 0-1) dropped their first home match of the year, moving to 7-1 at The Corral while Notre Dame (6-7, 1-0) got off on the right foot beginning conference play.
“I thought we showed a lot of emotion out there,” said USF head coach Claire Lessinger. “We executed pretty well but it was there big stretches that hurt us pretty bad. Hats off to Notre Dame for running a game plan and executing it.”
For the 13th time this season, junior outside hitter Marcela Gurgel paced the Bulls in kills with 19 and put together a double-double thanks to 11 digs.
Sophomore right side attacker Allie Boaz had a solid night for the green and gold registering eight kills on 20 attacks without a single error. Boaz played a factor up at the net as well with three block assists.
Tying Boaz with the eight kills were Nakia Williams and Alli O'Connor, each who slightly surpassed the 20 attacks mark.
Junior middle blocker Alli Arbogast was a force in many aspects for USF on the evening totaling six kills on 12 attacks for a .417 hitting percentage while topping it off with the Bulls' lone service ace, four digs and a match-high six block assists.
In the back, senior libero Stephanie Augustavo led the match in digs with 14 and helped out with four assists.
The Fighting Irish was supported by an incredible performance by Kellie Sciacca who put together a 20 kill effort on only 28 attacks for a .643 clip. Two other Notre Dame student-athletes racked up double-digit kills with Christina Kaelin (18) and Kristen Dealy (13).
Both teams struggled at the start of the match, unable to get into any rhythm. As a team, the Irish hit at a .051 percentage in the first set but the Bulls hit at an even .000 due to nine attack errors.
It was the sixth time that USF has dropped the opening set of a match this season, but like the previous five times, the Bulls bounced back to grab the second set to even the score at 1-1.
However, out of the locker room, the Irish came out firing on all cylinders in the third set, hitting .483 as a bunch because of 16 kills and only two attack errors.
In the fourth and final set, USF switched to a 6-2 system with both Mariana Thon and Brittany Castelamare setting but just barely got edged after the dust settled with the 22-25 set score.
The Bulls will look to get some redemption for the loss on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. when DePaul (1-11, 0-0) comes to Tampa. The match can be viewed through a live video stream on GoUSFBulls.com Press Pass, however, no audio feed will be able to be included.
Live stats will also be available through the Bulls' home page.
