Bulls Stampede to Cincinnati and ECU for Weekend on the Road
MATCHES: USF at Cincinnati | USF at ECU
DATES: Friday, Oct. 19, 7 p.m. | Sunday, Oct. 21, noon
LOCATIONS: Fifth Third Arena (13,176) | Minges Coliseum (7,100)
TWITTER UPDATES: @USFVolleyball
LIVE STATS: Friday |
Sunday
WATCH: Friday |
Sunday
TAMPA, OCTOBER 18, 2018 – The USF volleyball team gets set for a battle at first place Cincinnati and a 12-6 ECU team for the first road contests of October.
The Bulls (14-6, 3-4 The American) played 10 sets last weekend, splitting matches against UConn and Temple. After dropping the first two sets against the Owls on Sunday, USF fought back to win its fifth five-set match of the year. Redshirt senior
Clara Payne (Osteen, Fla.) was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after tallying 25 kills and a .393 hitting efficiency in both matches.
Eight current Bulls have faced the Bearcats in their careers. Payne has six previous matches against Cincy on her resume, totaling 43 kills in 22 sets with 22 blocks. Sophomore
Nikkia Benitez (Miami) tallied 26 digs in two matches against the Bearcats last year. Fellow sophomore
Jaeden Brown (Hollywood, Fla.) had eight kills and five blocks in that same match.
Eight current Bulls have also played the Pirates in their careers. Payne leads the way with six contests, as she's hitting .316 with 48 kills and 20 blocks. Senior
Maria McLamb (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) had 23 digs against ECU in Tampa last year. Senior setter
Briana Stowell (Orlando) had a season high 38 assists in Greenville last season.
Nota-Bulls
- USF leads the series against ECU 8-4, and trails Cincinnati in the all-time matchup, 17-13.
- Payne needs just 25 more blocks to become the seventh player in program history with 400 for a career.
- Freshman libero CC Clausen (The Woodlands, Texas) is third in The American and 32nd nationally with 395 digs this season.
- Junior Jac'cara Walker (Gainesville, Fla.) leads the team with 241 kills and 10 double-doubles.
- Stowell is second in the conference with 653 assists this year.
- Brown is third in the league with 1.15 blocks per set.
Get to Know the Opponents
CINCINNATI
The Bearcats enter this weekend 7-0 in conference play and 17-4 overall. Cincinnati leads the league and sits 19th nationally with a .267 hitting percentage, seventh in the country with 1,169 kills and fourth on the DI circuit with 1,105 assists. Cincy's great season rides on the swing of one of the best players in the country, redshirt junior Jordan Thompson. She leads the nation with 6.26 kills per set and 532 kills, 142 more than the next highest total. Thompson also leads the country with 6.94 points per set and is second in the conference with 33 aces. She became the first conference player to earn National Player of the Week status twice in the same season after recording an all-time conference and program record 44 kills at Wichita State last weekend.
ECU
The Pirates have been a balanced team, s five players have at least 115 kills. Junior middle blocker Toya Osuegbu leads the team with 144 kills, followed by sophomore Bri Wood with 139. Sophomore setter has 470 assists and freshman middle S'mara Riley leads the team with 52 blocks.
About USF Volleyball
Led by redshirt senior middle blocker Clara Payne, who paced the team with 300 points and finished seventh in The American with a .290 hitting percentage, USF and seventh-year head coach Courtney Draper are excited for 2018. Senior setter Briana Stowell finished second on the team in 2017 with 243 assists and averaged 22.3 per match in the final month of the year. The Bulls are welcoming six new faces to the roster, with five talented freshmen and a skilled outside hitter coming from Marshall University.
Follow the volleyball team on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.
– #GoBulls –
