USF Athletics

Payne Named American Defensive Player of the Week

October 29, 2018

PROVIDENCE, R.I., OCTOBER 29, 2018 – USF volleyball redshirt senior Clara Payne was named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week, as announced by the league offices on Monday.  

Payne (Osteen, Fla.) was a force at the net for USF during a 2-0 weekend in Tampa. The middle blocker denied the opposition, averaging an impressive two blocks per set. Payne also had 16 kills and eight digs in the Bulls' two wins.

Against SMU on Friday night, Payne helped lead a five-set comeback victory with 10 blocks. She then had eight blocks in a four-set win over Houston Sunday afternoon. The win against the Cougars included a special milestone for the redshirt senior, as Payne became the seventh player in program history to reach 400 career blocks.
Payne is second on the Bulls with 227 kills and has 85 blocks.

Up Next
The 17-7 Bulls head north to begin November with matches against Temple Thursday at 7 p.m. and UConn Saturday at noon.

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.
 
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