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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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| USF |
15 |
25 |
25 |
17 |
5 |
2 |
| Louisville |
25 |
23 |
20 |
25- |
15 |
3 |
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LOUISVILLE- The University of South Florida volleyball team has earned a reputation for coming through in five set matches, but on Sunday, they could not close out Louisville, and fell to the Cardinals in five.
After dropping the opening set, USF responded to take the next two frames, but could not close out the Cardinals, who stormed back to win 3-2.
The Cardinals, who sit atop the BIG EAST standings, have won eight straight matches, and closed out the Bulls by winning the final two sets, including the decisive fifth, 15-5.
USF was much more productive in the loss to the Cardinals than the straight set loss to Cincinnati on Saturday, as the Bulls hit .146 as a team, averaging 15.5 kills in the two winning sets.
The Bulls were able to get their outside hitters going, as senior Allie Boaz recorded 13 kills, hitting .462 and J'beria Davis added 10 kills while adding five digs.
Against the big swinging Cardinals, it took a total team effort on defense, and the Bulls had three players with at least double-digit digs, with Janice Rivera leading the way with 17 and Christine Knoechel and Andrea Rodriguez Gomez each adding 10 apiece.
Against the top blocking team in the conference, USF collected just five blocks compared to Louisville's 11, which suffocated the Bulls' attack in the final two sets on Sunday.
The Bulls rebounded from a disappointing first set to collect 31 kills in sets to and three, hitting .286 and .429 as a team in the second and third respectively.
After coming out flat in the opening frame, 25-15, the Bulls responded in the second to come out strong early. After back-and forth action throughout the set, USF was able to hold off the Louisville comeback to take the set 25-23 heading into the locker room at the break.
USF did not let up in the third, putting together their strongest frame of the match, hitting .429 as a team collecting 16 kills in just 28 attacks, to win the set 25-20 and grasp the momentum.
Despite grabbing the momentum after the third set, the Bulls could not hold off the Cardinals attack in the fourth, and Louisville set up their bigs at the net, making it difficult for the Bulls to find any scoring lanes, and UL took the fourth 25-17 to force the decisive fifth set.
Depleted after the emotional fourth set, USF could not get things going in the fifth, and Louisville stormed out to win the set 15-5 and the match 3-2.
