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Scoreboard
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Team
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Set 1
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Set 2
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Set 3
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Set 4
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Set 5
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Final
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| Notre Dame |
25 |
25 |
25 |
-- |
-- |
3 |
| USF |
19 |
17 |
20 |
-- |
-- |
0 |
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TAMPA - After beginning their BIG EAST season with a pair of wins, the Bulls dropped their match to Notre Dame in straight sets on Friday night.
The Bulls entered their match with the Irish confident after collecting wins against Marquette and previously undefeated Syracuse to open league play, but could not find a groove, as they fell to the Irish 3-0.
USF trailed from the beginning, digging themselves a big hole in set one, and could never get things together. The Bulls regrouped after dropping the first two sets, and had a 20-17 lead in set three, but could not hold off Notre Dame, who stormed back to take the match in straight sets.
The story of the game was the matchup between the two freshmen phenoms on both teams in
Andrea Rodriguez Gomez for the Bulls, and Andrea McHugh for Notre Dame.
Rodriguez Gomez led the Bulls with nine kills in the match, hitting .500 in her 16 attacks on the night, while McHugh led all players with 13 kills, hitting .379 in 29 attacks for the Irish.
McHugh just beat out Rodriguez Gomez for BIG EAST Freshman of the Week last week, and the conference is in store for four solid years out of the two rookies.
Allie Boaz tied Rodriguez Gomez for the team lead in kills with nine, hitting .429 as an outside hitter in the straight set loss.
The Bulls struggled passing the ball in the loss, and
Mariana Thon, the Bulls' setter recorded just 26 assists in the three sets.
The Irish outhit the Bulls .295 to .209 on the night, and out-blocked USF 5.0 to 3.0.
The Irish took command from the beginning, taking advantage of the Bulls' miscues to take a 10-4 lead in the opening frame, and even though USF stormed back but could not complete the comeback, falling in set No. 1 25-19.
It was more of the same in set No. 2, as the Irish outhit the Bulls .478 to .267 in the second frame, and led the entire way to take the set 25-17, and entered the locker room with a 2-0 set lead.
Despite coming out with more energy in set three, the Bulls continued to struggle passing the ball, and after taking a 20-17 lead in the third set, could not hold off the determined Irish, who took the third set 25-20, and the match in three sets.
The Bulls will look to respond on Sunday and improve to 3-1 in league play when they host 1-14 DePaul on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Corral. As always, the match can be seen live on Bullsvision, with live stats and a live chat on GoUSFBulls.com.
