FORT MYERS – The Bulls bounced back from their weekend in Omaha, hitting a season-high .331 as a team on their way to a four set win at FGCU, 19-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-12.
USF (4-4 overall) recovered from a slow first set to pound out 16 kills in the second set, followed by 19 and 15 kills in the next two sets, respectively, picking up a season-high 62 kills in a balanced offensive attack.
Middle blockers Andrea Rodriguez Gomez and Jennica Mullins made things difficult for the Eagles' blockers, hitting a combined .483 with 19 kills, and opening up the pin hitters for extra one-on-one opportunities.
Freshman right side hitter Kayla Bivins took full advantage of those opportunities, knocking down a career-high 16 kills while hitting .394, including a team-best 12 kills on 16 swings in the second half of the match.
USF was in complete control over the final two sets, committing just five hitting errors and hitting .439 to close out the Eagles. Freshman Amy Van Sant grabbed eight of her 18 digs in the final two sets, helping control the back row for the Bulls.
Sophomore Erin Fairs finished with 14 kills and 18 digs, continuing to average well over four digs per set this season.
Rodriguez Gomez added eight blocks to her totals, ending the night with 391 total blocks, just three away from moving into fifth on USF's All-Time list.
USF hosts Pittsburgh, FAU and No. 22 Purdue in the USF Invitational this weekend, kicking things off against Pittsburgh Friday at 7 p.m. in The Corral.
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