Bulls Edged by Eastern Kentucky in Home Opener

Friday, September 2

Tampa, Fla.

7:30 PM

University of South Florida

Eastern Kentucky

Bulls Edged by Eastern Kentucky in Home Opener

September 03, 2011 | Women's Volleyball

By: USF

Info.
Box Score	Highlights	Season Stats	USF Roster

Eastern Kentucky		Stat	USF
Keuhner, Kelsey	19	Kills	14	Walton, Kayla
Cvelbar, Abbey	39	Assists	43	Burghart, Jessica
Ott, Dena	14	Digs	18	Rivera, Janice
Burkle, Hannah	6	Blocks	4	Rozier, Kimika

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Sets
Eastern Kentucky	25	25	17	28	-	3
USF	22	19	25	26	-	1

TAMPA - The University of South Florida suffered a 3-1 setback (22-25, 19-25, 25-17, 26-28) to Eastern Kentucky in their opening match of the USF Volleyball Invitational Friday. The Bulls fall to 0-3 on the season, while the Colonels improved to 2-3.

Sophomore Kayla Walton matched her previous career high with 14 kills to lead the Bulls offensively. Junior setter Jessica Burghart recorded a personal best 43 assists, while senior libero Janice Rivera registered a match high 18 digs. Sophomore Andrea Rodriguez Gomez managed a torrid hitting percentage of .526, connecting on 11 of 19 attack attempts.

Eastern Kentucky raced out to an early 2-0 advantage as they managed hitting percentages of .286 and .182 to outhit the host Bulls in the opening two frames.

Following the break, USF came out firing in the third game as they posted a stellar .467 team hitting percentage. With the game tied at 11-11, USF went on an 8-2 spurt to pull ahead 19-13 and seize the momentum. Freshman Valerie El Houssine posted consecutive kills off the assists from Burghart to open the run. Rodriguez Gomez converted one of her 14 kills to cap the run.

The fourth game featured 16 ties and six lead changes as neither team led by more than two throughout the entire set. With the score knotted at 24 apiece, the Colonels committed an attack error to give USF the chance to push the match to five sets. However, Eastern Kentucky converted on the ensuing possession to tie the score at 25. Following another attack error from the Colonels, USF took a 26-25 lead into the next serve. Eastern Kentucky closed the game on a 3-0 run due to a pair of USF attack errors and a kill by Robyn Hench.

The Bulls will compete in a pair of matches on Saturday, facing the University of Maryland Eastern Shore at 11 a.m. followed by a matchup with Bowling Green at 7:30 p.m.