University of South Florida
West Virginia
Records Fall as USF Defeats West Virginia, 3-2
November 12, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
By TOM ZEBOLD USF Senior Writer Records were broken and a big milestone was set in thrilling victory by the playoff hungry Bulls on Saturday. The USF volleyball team helped head coach Claire Lessinger get her 100th win with the program by holding West Virginia off in five sets, 25-15, 25-23, 15-25, 23-25, 15-11, in Morgantown, W.Va. "We fought today and I was proud of that," Lessinger said. "It wasn't very pretty, but there was grit and determination when it counted most." Many personal player and top team marks also were set as the Bulls (11-16, 7-6) inched closer to a spot in the Big East Tournament. Senior libero Janice Rivera's 30 digs helped her move from seventh to fourth on the program's all-time list with 1,219 in her career. Freshman outside hitter Valerie El Houssine posted a career-high 20 digs, while the Bulls' 90 digs were the most in a single match this season. Four USF players racked up double-digit dig totals and four also surpassed single digits in kills. Senior Kimika Rozier tied the most kills (13) and blocks (7) in her time as a Bull. Shelbie Dailey tallied 52 assists to set up the Bulls offensively. "Shelbie did a good job getting all attackers involved today and we were successful in long rallies against a very scrappy West Virginia team," Lessinger said. USF quickly took the first two sets before having to withstand a furious comeback by the Mountaineers (7-18, 5-9). The decisive fifth set was tied at seven before a service error by West Virginia opened the door for USF to pounce. The Bulls didn't let their lead dip to below two points before closing out the match with a kill by El Houssine. "We relied heavily on our defense throughout the match and then our offense came through huge in the end," Lessinger said. "Killing 13 balls in the fifth set is more than impressive." USF stays on the road for another crucial Big East match in Pittsburgh on Sunday at 2 p.m. "I'm glad we won, but we have already switched gears to start preparing for a very physical Pitt team," Lessinger said.
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