GAINESVILLE, Fla., Sept. 13, 2019 – The USF volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 11 Florida before falling 3-2 to Long Beach State Friday afternoon on the first day of the Gator Invitational at the O'Connell Center.

Match I: No. 11 Florida 3, USF 1
Jac St. Cin (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Lindsey Pliapol (Daytona Beach, Fla.) led the Bulls with 12 kills apiece in a 22-25, 20-25, 25-19, 13-25 loss to No. 11 Florida in the opening match of the Gator Invitational.

CC Clausen (The Woodlands, Texas) contributed with a match-high 15 digs while Lauren LaBeck (Chicago, Ill.)) added a team-best 18 assists and 11 digs.

USF dominated, 25-19, in the third set with Pliapol and Clausen boosting the Bulls in the first few points. USF won the longest rally of the match in the third set, thanks to a pipeline shot from Jac'cara Walker (Gainesville, Fla.). USF also gained its largest lead of the match, 18-8, before Nicole Legg (Union, Ky.) and Aleia Wilborn (McKinney, Texas) had a monster block to push the lead to 22-13.  

Quotable
"Florida is a very good team, and for us to play them as tough as we did, I cannot help but be proud of our student-athletes. We served them very tough and hung with them offensively for the entire match. We only had one less kill and dig than them after three sets. I thought all three setters did a good job and Jac was on fire. I was also impressed with Lindsey's preparation for this match, and Clausen came up with some pretty incredible digs. Overall, if we can compete at that level and sustain that level of intensity, it's going to be a really successful season." — Courtney Draper.

Notable

• Lindsey Pliapol and Jac St. Cin paced USF with 12 kills apiece.
• CC Clausen led USF with 15 digs.
• Lauren LaBeck finished with a team-high 18 assists.

 
Match II: Long Beach State 3, USF 2
Pliapol registered a double-double with a team-high 22 kills to go along with 10 digs, and Walker turned in a double-double of her own with 18 kills and a team-best 20 digs, but Long Beach State rallied to win the final three sets on its way to a 20-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 16-14 victory over USF.

LaBeck fell one dig shy of a double-double with nine digs and a team-best 32 assists, while Rafaela Biegelmeyer (Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil) added 23 assists and seven digs.  

Quotable
"We had a lot of young athletes do a lot of great things. Ally and St. Cin led us in blocking and Aleia was a huge offensie weapon today. We had more kills and a higher hitting percentage than Long Beach State, but we just made too many errors to take the win. We must reduce our errors to find success." — Courtney Draper

Notable

• Lindsey Pliapol finished with a double-double with a team-high 22 kills to go along with 10 digs.
• Jac'cara Walker added a double-double with 20 digs and 18 kills.
• Lauren LaBeck finished with a team-high 32 assists.

Up Next
USF puts the finishing touches on the Gator Invitational Saturday at 2 p.m. when the Bulls face James Madison.

About USF Women's Volleyball
Be sure to follow USF women's soccer on social media (Twitter/Instagram/Facebook) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. 
 
Head coach Courtney Draper led her team to 20 wins in 2018, the most in her time at USF and the most for the program since 2002. The Bulls appeared in the NIVC, the program's first postseason trip since 2002. Senior outside hitter Jac'cara Walker led USF with 394 kills and recorded her 1000^thcareer kill during the 2018 year, on her way to earning first team All-American Athletic Conference honors. USF returns four starters, including its libero, while welcoming 9 newcomers to the fray in 2019 in the form of two transfers and seven freshmen.