Courtney Draper joined USF Athletics in July 2012 and 2019 marked eighth season as Head Coach of the program.
In 2019 she posted a 7-23 record overall and went 1-15 in American Athletic Conference play, dropping their final 15 matches. Sophomore CC Clausen led the Bulls defense with a team high 449 digs, while freshman newcomer Jac St. Cin made an impact offensively with 275 kills. Lauren LaBeck was able to reach 1,000 career assists during her second season as a Bull, finishing with a team high 767.
The 2018 season was the best in Draper’s tenure at USF. The Bulls finished 20-12, the most wins since 2002. The team earned a spot in the National Collegiate Volleyball Championship (NIVC), the first postseason appearance since 2002. Draper’s squad showed tremendous resiliency and endurance, finishing
the year 7-4 in five-set matches. The team began the year 10-1, as Draper earned her 100th career win at USF during the stretch.
A plethora of contributors led to the team’s success in 2018. Transfer Jac’cara Walker was insurmountable in the resurgence, finishing fourth in The American with 394 kills. The junior outside hitter led the Bulls with 15 double-doubles and was named first team all-conference. Redshirt senior Clara Payne had another outstanding season in a Bulls uniform, earning all-conference recognition for the first time in her career. She had 291 kills and 118 blocks, as she became the seventh player in program history to reach 400 career blocks during the year. Sophomore middle blocker Jaeden Brown had a breakout season, finishing second in The American with 146 blocks.
A few freshmen made immediate impacts, including defensive specialist CC Clausen, who led the team with 526 digs. She tallied 34 digs against Duke (8/31), the third most in a single match in program history. Freshman setter Lauren LaBeck played in every set in the final seven matches of the season. She reached 20 or more assists 12 times, 30 or more five times and 40 or more three times, averaging 34.4 assists over the last seven contests.
Draper revamped the 2017 Bulls with the addition of 10 new faces, the most in her USF era. Five transfers and five freshmen made up the bulk of the roster and also made significant impacts. Junior transfer Reagan Davey finished second on the team with 243 kills and along with redshirt-junior middle blocker Clara Payne, Draper will have her top three point producers return in 2018. Payne led the squad with 300 points, 99 blocks and a .289 hitting percentage. She was named to all-tournament teams in all three of USF's non-conference tournaments to start the season. A pair of junior transfers, setter Briana Stowell and libero Maria McLamb, also had strong seasons.
Stowell averaged more than 15 assists per match in the month of November, as USF went with a two setter rotation. McLamb served as the team's top libero and led the Bulls with 381 digs, 10th in The American with 3.89 digs per set. Senior setter Alex Mendoza continued to rise up USF's all-time assist list. She became just the fifth player in program history to reach 3,000 career assists on Nov. 5 and finished with 3,147 assists, good for fourth on the list. Senior middle blocker Joli Holland sustained her efficiency on offense and finished a stellar four-year career with a .302 hitting percentage, the fifth-best clip in program history.
2016 was a historic year for the Bulls. Under Courtney's guidance, USF posted 19 victories, the most since 2007, and won 10 conference matches, the first time reaching double digit victories in The American since 2013. Despite being predicted to place ninth in the conference preseason coaches' poll, the Bulls surprised many by finishing fifth in The American. USF won its first six games of the season, the longest such streak since 2000. The Bulls also won three tournaments - Charlotte Invitational, USF Invitational, USF Classic. The team began the year with seven straight home wins and recorded 11 sweeps during the season. The Bulls landed six players on the conference weekly honor roll and also had three players recognized as offensive or defensive player of the week. USF led The American in opponent's blocks per set (1.52) and were top five in digs, hitting percentage, opponent's hitting percentage, and service aces. Seniors Dakota Hampton and Amy Van Sant both tallied their 1,000th career dig during the season. Hampton also registered her 1,000th career kill, making her just the ninth player in program history with over 1,000 digs and 1,000 kills. Junior setter Alex Mendoza also recorded her 2,000th assist and ranks ninth in program history.
During 2015, USF battled through some injuries and tough competition to place ninth in the American Athletic Conference. Despite finishing in the bottom half of the conference standings, the Bulls were second in the AAC in digs (1969), fourth in service aces (149) and fifth in kills (1508). Courtney also helped junior outside hitter Dakota Hampton earn Second-Team All-AAC honors with 3.11 kills/set and 3.54 points/set. Some of the season highlights included playing at No. 5 Nebraska and hosting No. 1 Penn State in the Sun Dome. The Bulls also tallied a four-set win at SMU, the 2015 AAC Champions.
In 2014, the Bulls registered a sixth-place finish in a tough AAC while setting a young team up for long-term success. The Bulls played five sophomores in a 14-18 season against tough competition, exposing the young team to a new level of volleyball as Courtney continued building the program.
The Bulls registered their second consecutive winning season in 2013, recording a 17-15 overall mark and fourth place finish in The American. Courtney led a young USF team to a 6-3 conference road record, improving a team that won just two conference matches away from home the year before. She turned the Bulls into one of the top defensive teams in the conference, as USF led The American in blocks (519) and finished second in digs per set (16.83). She also developed 2013 conference player of the year Erin Fairs, who also won the 2012 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year award under Courtney’s guidance.
Courtney also made a quick program turnaround in 2012, her first season at USF. Bringing nine years of head coaching experience at the Division I and II levels and 12 years of overall coaching experience to the Bulls program, Courtney produced a 17-15 finish in 2012, five wins higher than the Bulls' previous season. She also led USF to the BIG EAST Championship semifinals after topping third seed Notre Dame in four sets. The Bulls’ win over the Fighting Irish was the first in school history. Her 2012 squad found success early in the season as well, topping Cincinnati for the first time since 2003, and winning back-to-back non-conference tournaments.
Prior to joining the Bulls, Courtney served as head coach at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg for the last eight years. While at Eckerd, she guided the Tritons to five NCAA DII Tournament appearances in eight seasons, including a second-round appearance in 2009 and a third-round showing in '11. The third-round appearance marked the school's deepest run in program history. In addition, Courtney mentored the school's first All-America honorees, produced 18 all-conference players and coached 44 Commissioner's Honor Roll student-athletes.
The 2011 campaign was a special one for Courtney as she eclipsed the 150-career win milestone in her coaching career (160-117 overall). The Tritons, who ranked as high as No. 21 in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, crashed the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championships South Regional for the first time in school history and rolled to a school-best 27-5 overall record (13-3 SSC), including an upset of the nation's top-ranked team. Courtney earned Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year honors and American Volleyball Coaches Association South Region Coach of the Year recognition. She also mentored sophomore Lindsay Biggs to AVCA All-America honors.
In 2009, Eckerd reached the second round of the NCAA DII Tournament, finishing the year with a 20-12 record. In addition, standout senior Lydee Benoit became the first Triton ever to be named to the AVCA All-America team.
Courtney led the Tritons to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006 after producing a 21-14 record. She followed that accomplishment up by guiding Eckerd to NCAA Tournament berths in 2007 and 2008.
In 2003, Courtney received her first head coaching position at Jacksonville University, where the Dolphins went 15-15 and reached the Atlantic Sun Tournament. The then-25-year-old was the youngest Division I head coach in NCAA volleyball.
Prior to her first head coaching position, Courtney spent three years as an assistant coach at Duke and Florida State. She spent the 2002 season with the Blue Devils, serving as the program's recruiting coordinator and Director of Duke Volleyball camps. Additionally, Courtney was with the Seminoles in the 2000 and 2001 seasons, where she specialized in recruiting and scouting.
Courtney played four seasons at Florida State under legendary head coach Dr. Cecile Reynaud, where she earned a starting position as a walk-on during her sophomore year. During her playing career, Draper (formerly Dipert) helped lead the Seminoles to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and an Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1998. During her senior year, Courtney was a team captain and the recipient of the Golden Nole, awarded to the team's most valuable player.
A native of Lisle, Ill., Courtney has been active in youth volleyball, working with Team Florida High Performance Pipeline. In the summer of 2009, she saw her squad earn a silver medal in the Youth National Division at the High Performance Championships in Fort Lauderdale. The runner-up finish was the highest of any squad in the Florida Region that year.
Courtney earned a bachelor's degree in sports management in 2000 and completed her master's degree in sports administration at Florida State in 2001. She and her husband, Mark, reside in St. Petersburg with their daughter, Logan, and son, Jack.
