TAMPA, Sept. 22, 2017 – The USF volleyball team dropped its American Athletic Conference opener to Cincinnati in straight sets Friday (25-22, 25-19, 25-17).
 
The Bulls (4-6, 0-1 The American) led 2-0 early in the opening set, but the Bearcats (3-10, 1-0 The American) went on an 8-2 run and led by as many as six. The Bulls got within a point at 21-20 following a Nikkia Benitez (Miami) kill and trailed 23-22 following an attack error. But Cincinnati got the final two points to take the opening set 25-22.
 
The second set was dead even midway through, until consecutive kills from redshirt-junior middle blocker Clara Payne (Osteen, Fla.) made it 13-11 in favor of USF. A 9-2 run from the Bearcats made it 20-15 and turned the momentum to their side, as they won 25-19. Cincy was able to win the match in the third set with a 25-17 final.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Courtney Draper on the crowd's atmosphere in the first home match since Aug. 26:
"The atmosphere was awesome tonight. Tons of fans from the community, a big chunk of our student-athlete body and lots of representation from different bodies on campus. It was electric in this gym tonight."
 
Head coach Courtney Draper on the overall performance in the opening conference match:
"Our energy was high and we had just as many points as they did. We out dug them, had more assists, but played a little too high-error. The lack of hitting efficiency was the difference tonight."  
 
Head coach Courtney Draper on the approach going into Sunday's matchup:
"A lot of what we do this year isn't going to be so much about our opponent as much as it'll be about ourselves. We can play well enough to beat anyone in this conference, the key will be minimizing those errors which will allow us to be successful."
 
KEY STATS

• Payne had nine kills and a season-high three solo blocks.  
• Senior Joli Holland (Dublin, Calif.) recorded a team-best 10 kills with three block assists.   
• Senior setter Alex Mendoza (Minneola, Fla.) notched a match-high 33 assists and now has 300 on the season.
• USF has 66 digs and 39 assists compared to Cincinnati's 54 digs and 36 assists.

 
NOTABLES
Mendoza was honored before the match with the Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award. Each year the American Athletic Conference awards 25 student athletes with the honor which recognizes that student-athlete as having outstanding academic credentials, athletic accolades and volunteer service to their community.

UP NEXT
USF hosts ECU at noon on Sunday. The match can be streamed on Facebook Live.    

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.