YOUNGSVILLE, La., April 24, 2026 – The No. 4 seed South Florida Bulls kept its postseason run alive with a hard fought victory over Missouri State on day two of the Conference USA Championships before ultimately falling to the No.1 seed Florida Atlantic to close out the 2026 season.
Matches are played until one team reaches three points, with remaining courts going unfinished.
(6) Missouri State 2, South Florida 3
In the opening dual of the day, the Bulls showed resilience in a back-and-forth battle against Missouri State, securing a 3-2 victory to advance.
Missouri State struck first on court two, where
Julia Panko and
Cornelia Crudu dropped a straight-set decision to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead. USF quickly answered on court one, as
Zoey Mitchell and
Isabella Almeida earned a 21-17, 21-15 straight-set win to even the score at 1-1.
The Bulls took control of the dual on court four, where
Sasha Pasloski and
Ryann Genest outlasted their opponents in a gritty three-set match. After taking the opening set 21-19, the pair dropped the second set 19-21 before closing out the match with a 15-11 win in the decisive third set to give USF a 2-1 advantage.
Missouri State battled on court three, leveling the match at 2-2, setting up a winner-take-all situation on court five.
With the season on the line,
Kate Stewart and
Ariana Medchill rose to the challenge. The duo captured a tightly contested first set 22-20 before Missouri State responded with a 21-15 second-set win. In the decisive third set, Stewart and Medchill pulled away late to secure to a 15-11 victory and clinched the dual for the Bulls.
#19 (1) Florida Atlantic 3, South Florida 1
In the elimination dual against No. 1 seed Florida Atlantic, the Bulls faced an early deficit they couldn't overcome. FAU opened the match scoring on court three with a straight-set victory to take a 1-0 lead. The Owls extended the lead to 2-0 on court four.
USF responded on court five, where
Addison Bounds and
Kate Stewart delivered a strong performance to keep the Bulls alive. After dropping the first set 12-21, the pair bounced back with a dominant 21-10 second set before edging out a dramatic 16-14 win in the third set to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Bulls needed wins on both remaining courts to continue their season. On court one,
Zoey Mitchell and
Isabella Almeida started strong with a 21-13 opening-set victory but fell 21-13 in the second set. In a tightly contested third set, the duo came up just short, 15-11 as FAU clinched the dual.
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About USF Beach Volleyball
The University of South Florida Beach Volleyball program is the newest program in the now 21-team USF Athletics program. South Florida Beach Volleyball joined Conference USA on July 1, 2025. Pri Piantadosi-Lima was named South Florida's first-ever beach volleyball head coach on June 6, 2023. She also serves as the head coach of USAV Beach and the national team development program and was honored as the 2022 USA Volleyball Female Junior Coach of the Year. Before joining South Florida, Piantadosi-Lima helped launch the Eckerd College program in 2015 as an assistant coach and helped lead the program to its first AVCA national championship and two consecutive NCAA championship podium finishes.
– #GoBulls –
