USF Athletics

Bulls Finish Tournament Play at Dolphin Invitational

September 14, 2017

Tournament Schedule

Match 1: Friday, Sept. 15 | 3 p.m. | USF vs. Austin Peay
Match 2: Friday, Sept. 16 | 3 p.m. | USF vs. Presbyterian
Match 3: Saturday, Sept. 16 | 6 p.m. | USF at Jacksonville  

Location: Jacksonville, Fla. | UNF Arena
Twitter Updates: http://twitter.com/usfvolleyball
Tickets: Free Admission
Live Stats: Austin Peay – http://bit.ly/2jqAYgx
                   Presbyterian – http://bit.ly/2xnlRtD
                   Jacksonville – http://bit.ly/2wZE80t

TAMPA, Sept. 14, 2017 – The University of South Florida volleyball team concludes tournament play at the Dolphin Invitational, hosted by Jacksonville University on Friday and Saturday.
 
The Bulls (2-4) begin the invitational by facing Austin Peay Friday at 3 p.m. On Saturday, USF will take on Presbyterian at 3 p.m. and the host Dolphins at 6 p.m.
 
USF will have had 13 days in between matches when it takes the court Friday afternoon. The impact of Hurricane Irma on the state of Florida cancelled the USF Classic to be played Sept. 8 & 9.   
 
Redshirt-junior middle blocker Clara Payne (Osteen, Fla.) was named to the all-tournament team at the Bulldog Invitational (Sept. 1-2). Payne tallied 20 kills and 10 blocks in the three matches. Senior setter Alex Mendoza (Minneola, Fla.) notched 84 assists at the Bulldog Invitational.
 
Senior outside hitter Priscilla Ehieze (Houston, Texas) ranks second in the American Athletic Conference with a .379 hitting percentage. She leads the team with 54 kills and 58 points.
 
The Field

Austin Peay: The Governors have not slowed down following a 24-win season in 2016. Sitting at 8-2, Austin Peay leads the Ohio Valley Conference in assists per set (12.90) and kills per set (13.58). Senior middle blocker Ashley Slay leads the team with 158 kills and sits 14th nationally with 189 points. Junior setter Kristen Stucker ranks 13th in the country with 441 assists.    
 
Presbyterian: The Blue Hose are led by freshman middle blocker Allie Wright with 95 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Erin Eulitz sits second with 85 kills. Junior setter Jaclyn Brewington leads PC with 201 assists and junior defensive specialist Daley Gosnell has 152 digs. Presbyterian ranks second in the Big South Conference with 15.67 digs per set.
 
Jacksonville: The tournament hosts are led by senior outside hitter Cristina Finan and her 83 kills. Sophomore setter Alleah Stamatis is fifth in the ASUN with 224 assists. Senior liberoMackenzie Swan ranks fourth in the conference with 138 digs and freshman middle blocker Hannah Marchand leads the league with 11 solo blocks. The Dolphins rank second in the ASUN with 408 total assists and 440 total kills.

Notables
 

• The Bulls rank 19th in the country with 1.75 aces per set.
• Senior middle blocker Joli Holland (Dublin, Calif.) sits third in The American with 0.45 aces per set.  
• Making her way up the top-10 in program history, Mendoza sits ninth all-time with 2,225 career assists.  
• The Bulls are a combined 29-15-1 against this weekend's opponents. USF has yet to face Presbyterian, defeated Austin Peay in the only meeting, and holds a 28-15-1 edge against Jacksonville.
• This weekend will mark the first matchup between the Bulls and Dolphins since 2010. USF holds a six-match winning streak in the series.  
   

About USF Volleyball
In addition to 10 newcomers, USF returns a large core of talent for 2017, led by senior setter Alex Mendoza, who surpassed the 2,000 assist total in 2016 and posted a team-high 1,125 helpers. Redshirt-junior middle blocker Clara Payne finished second on the team with 340 points and senior middle blocker Joli Holland finished fourth with 251.5 points. The Bulls are guided by sixth-year head coach Courtney Draper.
 
Follow the volleyball team on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.