Bulls Head to Texas for Final Weekend of Conference Play
MATCHES: USF at Houston | USF at SMU
DATES: Friday, Nov. 16, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 18, 2 p.m.
LOCATIONS: Alumni Center (1,000) | Moody Coliseum (7,000)
TWITTER UPDATES: @USFVolleyball
LIVE STATS: Friday |
Sunday
WATCH: Friday |
Sunday
TAMPA, NOVEMBER 15, 2018 – The USF volleyball team travels to Texas for its final weekend of the regular season, taking on Houston Friday night and SMU on Sunday afternoon.
The Bulls (19-9, 8-7 The American) split the final home weekend of the year, defeating ECU on Nov. 9 before falling to Cincinnati (No. 24 RPI) on Sunday. USF enter the weekend in fifth place in The American standings.
The Bulls are in the top-100 RPI and in position to earn a postseason trip to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship with three matches remaining. The complete field will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 25.
Junior
Jac'cara Walker (Gainesville, Fla.) recorded a season high 22 kills against the Cougars on Oct. 28 in Tampa, also adding 14 digs. Redshirt senior
Clara Payne (Osteen, Fla.) tallied eight blocks in that contest. Freshman setter
Lauren LaBeck (Chicago) posted 46 assists and 13 digs. Walker reached 1,000 career kills in that match and Payne became the seventh player in program history to reach 400 career blocks.
Down 2-0 on Oct. 26, the Bulls surged back for a five-set win against the Mustangs in Tampa. Freshman
Lindsey Pliapol (Daytona Beach, Fla.) had 14 kills in that match with eight digs. LaBeck recorded a double-double with 26 assists and 10 digs. Payne matched a career high with 10 blocks and redshirt sophomore
Nyemba Musemuna (Avon, Ind.) had eight kills and six blocks.
Nota-Bulls
- Senior defensive specialist Maria McLamb (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) had 15 digs against SMU the first time around with six assists and a season-high 23 digs against Houston.
- USF leads The American with 1,866 digs.
- The Bulls are 7-3 in five-set matches this season after their win against ECU on Nov. 9.
- Walker leads the team with 334 kills and 12 double-doubles.
- Sophomore Jaeden Brown (Hollywood, Fla.) is second in the conference with 123 blocks.
- As a team, the Bulls are third in the conference with a .231 hitting percentage.
Get to Know the Opponents
HOUSTON
Junior outside hitter Megan Duncan leads the Cougars with 321 kills. Freshman middle blocker Kendall Haywood is swinging .317 with a conference high 124 blocks. Seven Cougars have at least 10 aces and five have 20 or more, as the team leads the league with 1.48 aces per set. Junior defensive specialist Katie Karbo is 13th in the country with 591 digs.
SMU
The Mustangs are led by senior outside hitter Brittany Adams with 214 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Lexi Nordmann leads the league with a .300 hitting percentage. The team is second in The American with 17.44 digs per set. Junior libero Montana Watts has 544 digs and is averaging 5.49 per set, good for third in the set.
About USF Volleyball
Now in her seventh season with the Bulls, head coach Courtney Draper has her team at 19-9, just one win shy what would be the most in her time at USF. Redshirt senior middle blocker Clara Payne became the seventh player in program history to reach 400 career blocks earlier this season. Sophomore Jaeden Brown is second in The American in total blocks and leads USF with a hitting percentage above .300. Junior transfer Jac'cara Walker has led USF in kills all season long and recorded her 1000th career kill earlier in the year.
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– #GoBulls –
