USF Athletics

Bulls Face First Conference Road Swing

September 28, 2017

Weekend Schedule

Match 1: Friday, Sept. 29 | 8 p.m. | USF at No. 25 Wichita State
Match 2: Sunday, Oct. 1 | 2 p.m. | USF at Memphis
Locations: Wichita, Kan. | Memphis, Tenn.
Twitter Updates: @usfvolleyball
Live Stats: Friday | Sunday
Watch: Friday | Sunday       

TAMPA, Sept. 28, 2017 – The University of South Florida volleyball team begins a four-match road trip through The American with the newest member of the league, Wichita St. Friday at 8 p.m. The Bulls conclude the weekend against Memphis Sunday at 2 p.m.

The Bulls (5-7, 0-2 The American) picked up an early win to start the week when they took down Bethune-Cookman in four sets Tuesday at home. USF set season-highs for kills (63) and assists (62) in the victory.
 
Freshman outside hitter Doris Carter (Lexington, Ky.) tallied 21 kills in the win, the most for a Bull since Aug. 27 of last season. Redshirt-junior middle blocker Clara Payne (Osteen, Fla.) notched 13 kills and five block assists, while senior outside hitter Priscilla Ehieze (Houston, Texas) set a career-high with 16 kills. Senior setter Alex Mendoza (Minneola, Fla.) recorded a career-best with 56 assists in the win.
 
THE OPPONENTS

Wichita State: The Shockers entered the week ranked No. 25 nationally, sitting at 10-3 and 2-0 in conference play. Wichita St. has a win over then-No. 8 Creighton and two of its three losses are to ranked teams. The Shockers lead The American with 12.93 assists per set, 13.89 kills per set, 118 total team blocks and a .255 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Tabitha Brown leads the Shockers with 178 kills. Senior setter Emily Hiebert's 491 assists are a conference-best and libero Giorgia Civita sits second in the league with 5.63 digs per set.
 
Memphis: The Tigers are 7-7 on the season (0-2 in The American) and paced by sophomore middle blocker Brianna Kadiku with a league-best 57 total blocks. She also has 97 kills and is hitting a team-high .297. Freshman right side hitter Hannah Flowers leads Memphis with 135 kills and senior setter Faith Myers has 349 assists.  

NOTABLES
 

• Carter's 21 kills Tuesday marked the most in a single match by a USF freshman since Sept. 23, 2011, when Valerie El Houssine recorded 30 kills against Syracuse.  
• Payne sits third in the league with a .368 hitting percentage.
• Making her way up the record books, Mendoza is now sixth all-time in program history with 2,630 career assists. 
• The Bulls are meeting the Shockers for just the second time in the series history. Wichita St. won the first matchup in 2005.  
• USF holds an 18-10 edge in the all-time series against Memphis, having won three of the last four matches.
• Ehieze leads USF with 106 kills on the year.
• Junior libero Maria McLamb (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) set a season-high with 29 digs against Bethune-Cookman.
   

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.
 
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