BATON ROUGE, LA., SEPTEMBER 1, 2018 – The USF volleyball team is beginning to make winning in five sets a trend, as it closed the Tiger Classic with an impressive win at LSU Saturday afternoon (25-21, 15-25, 25-19, 13-25, 15-9).   

The Bulls (5-1) spread the productivity fairly evenly, as they had eight players with kills. Junior outside hitter Jac'cara Walker (Gainesville, Fla.) led the way in the first set with five kills, then sophomore middle blocker Jaeden Brown (Hollywood, Fla.) had four in the third set. Walker, Brown and Senior outside hitter Reagan Davey (Ocala, Fla.) each had two kills in the fifth set.

Notables

• The Bulls are now 4-0 in five-set matches this season and 7-0 since the start of 2017.
• Freshman libero CC Clausen (The Woodlands, Texas) had 30 digs in the win, totaling a tournament best 92 in the three matches. She was named the Tiger Classic Best Defender.
• Walker had 12 kills and 12 digs for her second double-double of the year.
• Brown had 10 kills on the day and led USF with 34 kills and 11 blocks in the weekend's three matches.

Key Stats

2014 – The win against the Tigers marks USF's first win against an SEC school 2014, when the Bulls defeated Auburn. LSU went 20-11 last season and earned an NCAA tournament appearance.
113 – Senior setter Briana Stowell (Orlando) had 33 assists on Saturday and tallied 113 at the Tiger Classic.
5 – The Bulls have now won at least five of the first six matches in two of the last three seasons (went 6-0 to start 2016).

Quotables

Head coach Courtney Draper on the huge win:
"We played great volleyball today, ultimately winning the serving and passing game. We got them out of their system and forced them to do things they didn't want to do. We used many different players in unique roles, which maximized our opportunity."

Head coach Courtney Draper discussed the team's ability to battle and continuously win in five sets:
"We had the same amount of aces, digs and blocks, so it was an even match. I'm so proud of the toughness this team displays and their drive to win."

Up Next
The Bulls travel north for the Blackbird Invitational hosted by LIU Brooklyn Sept. 7-8.   

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. Senior defensive specialist Maria McLamb led USF with 381 digs as a junior, finishing 10^th in The American with 3.89 digs per set. 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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