NEW ORLEANS, OCT. 30, 2015 – Junior Dakota Hampton recorded her eighth consecutive double-double in USF's 3-2 (14-25, 27-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-13) loss at Tulane Friday.
Hampton finished with 12 kills and 12 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. Joining Hampton with a double-double was freshman Molly Burkhardt, her fourth of the season. She had 27 assists and 15 digs, both game highs.
USF (7-16, 4-7 American Athletic Conference) was dominant in the first set. The Bulls hit .591 and had no attack errors as they never trailed in the 25-14 win.
"The first set was probably our best set of the year," said head coach Courtney Draper. "In the remaining sets, we just made too many errors to be successful."
After trailing 19-17 in the second set, USF took a 22-21 lead. The score was tied 25-25, the 10th tie of the set, before the Green Wave scored the next two points for the 27-25 win.
USF trailed early in the third set as well, 14-9, but made a comeback to get within one point, 22-21 following a kill by Hampton. However, the Green Wave scored the final three points of the set to win 25-21.
Tulane led 10-4 and then 19-14 in the fourth set. USF then scored the next six points to take a 20-19 lead. The score was tied 22-22 when USF scored three of the next four points for a 25-23 win.
For the second time this season, USF and Tulane played a fifth set. The first one, back on Oct. 4, was won by the Bulls in Tampa, Fla. On Friday, USF was well on its way for a repeat performance after jumping out to a 7-4 lead. A kill by sophomore Joli Holland, one of her seven for the match, gave the Bulls a 9-7 lead. Tulane scored four of the next six points to tie the set 11-11. An attack error gave USF a 13-11 lead, but Tulane scored the next four points for the 15-13 win.
"They showed great fight to come back and win the fourth set," said Draper. "I really thought with the momentum for the fourth set, we would take the final set, but we came up two points short in the end."
Junior Denise Belcher finished with 16 kills while hitting .286. As a team, USF outhit Tulane .188 to .184.
USF will continue its road trip at Houston Sunday at 2 p.m. before hosting UCF Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Sun Dome.
