University of South Florida
Southeast Missouri State
Young Bulls Come Up Short in St. Louis
September 08, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
The University of South Florida volleyball team mixed and matched personnel throughout the first match of the St. Louis Tournament, but fell just shy of manufacturing Friday's win.
Switching setting systems and liberos mid-match, and utilizing a pair of late-game substitutions that could only be compared to bringing in a pinch hitter in baseball, head coach Courtney Draper and the Bulls (3-4 overall) were points away from solving Friday night's puzzle, taking a 2-1 lead but falling in five sets to Southeast Missouri State, 25-19, 24-26, 20-25, 25-22, 15-9.
After SE Missouri hit .301 over the first two sets, Draper pulled USF into a 5-1 setter system for the first time this season, and rotated her libero and defensive specialist, giving sophomore Casey Albano her first crack as USF's primary passer while adding her to the serving rotation. The result – a .190-point drop in the Redhawks' attack percentage in the third set as the Bulls allowed just nine kills while recording 21 of a season-high 85 digs to reel in their most lob-sided set-win of the match. Four Bulls finished with at least 10 digs, and 11 recorded at least one dig in the match.
SE Missouri (5-3) rebounded from consecutive losses in the second and third sets, and committed just five errors in the final two sets to grab the come-from-behind win. USF out-killed, out-dug and out-served the Redhawks, but the Bulls were out-hit .258-.188, and couldn't find their swing late in the match as SE Missouri made its run.
Dropping the first set of the match, USF made use of five service aces to offset SE Missouri's scalding .433 hitting percentage. With the Bulls up 25-24 and a chance to tie the match heading into the break, Draper called junior right side hitter Kayla Walton off the bench for her first action of the set. Freshman setter Natalia Soares provided the assist as Walton powered home the first ball she saw, finishing off the second set.
Draper used a similar strategy in the third, bringing in senior J'beria Davis to provide the knockout punch in the form of kills on each of USF's final three points.
USF continued to improve despite the loss, as seven different Bulls set or tied 10 new career records. Junior middle blocker Andrea Rodriguez Gomez led the team with a career-high 17 kills, hitting .355 and serving up a career-high five aces. Sophomore outside hitter Valerie El Houssine added 16 kills, and led the team defensively with a career-best 22 digs. Freshman setter Wylie Devlin played two-plus sets as the team's only setter, sharing duties in the other three sets, and set a career-best in assists with 48, digs with 10, and recorded her first-career block, as well as first-career double-double.
Albano and senior middle blocker Caitlyn Breen tied a career-high in digs, collecting 14 and four, respectively, and freshman Ciara Brown complimented her nine kills with a career-best three digs. Senior defensive specialist/libero Claudia Cabrera's three assists capped the onslaught of career highs.
USF is back in action twice tomorrow, facing Evansville at 11 a.m., and finishing the tournament against host St. Louis University at 8 p.m.
