Bulls Return Home for Start of Conference Play
Weekend Schedule
Match 1: Friday, Sept. 22 | 7 p.m. | USF vs. Cincinnati
Match 2: Sunday, Sept. 24 | Noon | USF vs. ECU
Location: Tampa, Fla. | The Corral
Twitter Updates: @usfvolleyball
Tickets: USFBullsTix.com
Live Stats: GoUSFBulls.com
Watch: BullsVision (Friday) /
Facebook Live (Sunday)
TAMPA, Sept. 21, 2017 – The University of South Florida volleyball team returns home for the first time since Aug. 26 and begins conference play. USF hosts Cincinnati on Friday at 7 p.m. then ECU Sunday at noon.
Friday's contest can be seen live and free of charge on BullsVision. Sunday's action will be streamed on Facebook Live.
The Bulls (4-5) are coming off their best weekend of the season after going 2-1 at Dolphin Invitational in Jacksonville. USF shook off a loss to Austin Peay on Friday to take down Presbyterian and the host Dolphins on Saturday.
Redshirt-junior middle blocker
Clara Payne (Osteen, Fla.) and junior outside hitter
Reagan Davey (Ocala, Fla.) were both named to the all-tournament team. Davey had 36 kills in the tournament with 38 digs. Payne totaled 26 kills and 14 total blocks while hitting at a .383 clip.
Senior setter
Alex Mendoza (Minneola, Fla.) had her best weekend of the season with 130 assists in the three matches, 91 coming on Saturday.
THE OPPONENTS
Cincinnati: A year removed from an NCAA Tournament appearance, the Bearcats have faced a challenging non-conference schedule and are 2-10 on the year. Junior outside hitter Carly Nolan leads The American with 203.5 points and 184 total kills. Junior setter Jade Tingelhoff is third in the conference with 398 assists. The team has been balanced on the defensive side and leads the league with 100 total blocks.
ECU: The Pirates had a strong non-conference performance by going 8-4. Senior outside hitter Lael Ceriani leads the team with 156 kills, 4.17 points per set and 3.71 kills per set, all top-five in the conference. Sophomore libero Brandee Markwith sits third in the league with 225 digs and 5.36 digs per set. Middle hitters Toya Osuegbu and Natalie Montini pace the Pirates at the net with 42 and 41 blocks, respectively.
NOTABLES
- The Bulls rank 27th in the country with 1.68 aces per set.
- Payne sits second in the league with a .368 hitting percentage.
- Making her way up the top-10 in program history, Mendoza sits eighth all-time with 2,452 career assists.
- The Bulls are a combined 20-18 against the Bearcats and Pirates. Cincy leads the all-time series, 16-12, against the Bulls. USF leads the all-time series against ECU, 8-2.
- The Bulls took both matches against the Pirates last season, dropping only one set.
KEY STATS
- Senior outside hitter Priscilla Ehieze (Houston, Texas) leads USF with 72 kills on the year.
- Junior libero Maria McLamb (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) has a team-best 107 digs.
- The Bulls set a season-high with 59 kills in Saturday's win over Presbyterian.
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.
– #GoBulls –
