Friday, Jan. 22

USF 3, North Florida 2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 15-12)	Box Score
Tulane 3, Southern Mississippi 0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-17)	Box Score
Wichita State 3, South Dakota 0 (25-20, 25-19, 26-24)	Box Score
Memphis 3, Southern Illinois 1 (25-13, 25-21, 18-25, 25-21)	Box Score

Highlights

USF 3, North Florida 2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 15-12)

The USF women's volleyball team got its 2020 campaign underway with a hard-fought 3-2 victory at UNF Friday, opening head coach Jolene Shepardson's tenure at USF with a win.

Shepardson, the 12th head coach in program history, became the eighth coach to win their USF debut and the Bulls improved to 28-21 in season-opening matches, winning their last three.

After struggling to gel with several newcomers on the court in the first set, the Bulls found their stride in the second and went on to claim the five-set victory: 23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 15-12.

The Bulls hit .150 for the match as junior setter Masha Idjilov (Moldova) led the offense with 45 assists. Freshmen Agata Plaga (Gizycko, Poland), Marta Cvitkovic (Rijeka, Croatia) and Makayla Washington (Tallahassee) led the offense with 19, 14 and 9 kills, respectively. Cvitkovic added 17 digs and a team-best four service aces. Junior CC Clausen posted 24 digs and Washington, who redshirted last season with an injury, posted seven blocks to lead the team.

The Bulls battled through a very close first set in their season premiere. The set was tied 19-19, when UNF ran off a pair of points to open a 21-19 lead. USF rallied back to tie the match at 22 on a UNF hitting error. The Osprey called a timeout and posted two straight points to take a 24-22 lead and took the 25-23 win on Solimar Cestero's second kill of the match. USF newcomers Plaga and Cvitkovic posted four and three kills, respectively, in the first.

The Bulls got a spark from Washington at the net in the second set and took an early 12-8 lead on a pair of Cvitkovic service aces. A Jac St. Cin (St. Petersburg) kill pushed the lead to 15-11. UNF rallied to tie the set at 20-20. A block from Cvitkovic gave the Bulls a 21-20 lead. Washington's kill made it 22-21 as the teams traded points until the Bulls pulled out a 25-23 victory.

The Bulls took a 13-8 lead in the third on a Plaga block and controlled the set the rest of the way, claiming a 25-18 victory, hitting .312 in the set and posting 15 kills.

UNF rallied in the fourth set and tied it at 12-12. A St. Cin and Washington block gave the Bulls a 13-12 lead, but UNF rallied to take a 20-18 lead before claiming a 25-22 victory. The Bulls struggled posting 12 kills and 12 attack errors in the set.

USF rebounded quickly in the fifth, taking an early 4-2 lead on a Plaga kill and dominating the set by hitting a match-best .360. The Bulls extended the lead to 10-5 following an Ally Barnhart (Lenexa, Kan.) kill and a UNF hitting error brought home a 15-12 victory to seal the match.

Tulane 3, Southern Mississippi 0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-17)

The Tulane volleyball team (1-0) opened its spring 2021 season with a win as the Green Wave defeated Southern Miss (2-1) in three sets on the road (25-20, 26-24, 25-17).

"The whole team is just grateful to be able to play and be a team and battle together," head coach Jim Barnes said. "Southern Miss really made us work. They came and played us really hard, but we were anticipating that. Our team showed a lot of teamwork and a veteran type of response to what happened in the game. We really held things together, played aggressively, played smart and found a way to get a 3-0 win."

Senior outside hitter Lexie Douglas led the Olive and Blue offensively with 12 kills while hitting .250. Junior right side hitter Yvette Burcescu and junior middle hitter Kayla Dinkins had seven kills each, while freshman outside hitter Mackenzie Martin had six in her first collegiate competition. Dinkins also led Tulane's offensive with five total blocks and a hitting percentage of .300.

Leading Tulane defensively was junior outside hitter Makala Heidelberg, who totaled 16 digs. Junior setter Amanda Giardina, Martin and Douglas each had double-digit digs, totaling 12, 12 and 11, respectively. 

The Green Wave totaled 41 kills, 66 digs and 10 blocks in the three-set match, holding the Golden Eagles to a .067 hitting clip.

Two quick kills from Burcescu put the Green Wave on the board early with a 2-0 score before the Golden Eagles went on a 6-1 run to take a 6-3 lead. A kill from Martin sparked a 4-0 run from the Olive and Blue, as Dinkins teamed up with Martin and Burcescu for two blocks to put the Wave up 11-9. A 7-0 run from Tulane extended its lead to 19-15, with the team staying ahead for the remainder of the set to close it out and take a 1-0 lead.

The second set was a back and forth game that saw 15 tie scores and 10 lead changes. Three consecutive kills from Douglas put Tulane on top early, 6-5, before Southern Miss caught up to tie it. A 4-0 run from the Golden Eagles put the home team up 15-11 before the Green Wave went on a 5-1 run of their own to tie the score once again at 16. Two kills from Dinkins led to a 4-0 Green Wave run to put the team up 21-19, before a kill from Douglas and a Southern Miss ball handling error finished it up to give Tulane the 2-0 match advantage. 

The third and final set started the same way as the second set, with constant back and forth points, until a 5-0 run from Tulane gave the team some momentum to put the Green Wave on top, 10-5. The Olive and Blue held a steady lead throughout the remainder of the set, before a block from Burcescu and senior middle hitter Mackenzie Benoit at match point solidified the win for the Wave. 

Wichita State 3, South Dakota 0 (25-20, 25-19, 26-24)

Nicole Anderson posted a double-double and Sophia Rohling hit a career-high .478 to help the Wichita State University volleyball team earn a 3-0 sweep over the South Dakota Coyotes in the 2021 spring season opener for both teams Friday, Jan. 22, in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Hammons Student Center. The set scores were 25-20, 25-19 and 26-24.

Wichita State (1-0) is scheduled to face Oral Roberts (0-0) in its second game of the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational Saturday, Jan. 23, at noon.

Anderson, a sophomore from Richardson, Texas, tallied a match-high 13 kills to go along with 11 digs for her fourth-career double-double while Rohling, a sophomore from Thayer, Kan., tallied 12 kills on 23 attempts with just one error for her career-best .478 attacking percentage.

McKayla Wuensch and Kayce Litzau both posted a team-best 18 assists, Lily Liekweg added a match-high 15 digs, and Brooke Smith compiled a match-best four blocks, rounding out the Wichita State leaders.

The Shockers outhit the Coyotes (0-1), who are the defending Summit League Champions, .256 to .153, and tallied a 44-33 advantage in kills in the contest.

Sami Slaughter had 10 kills on 28 swings to pace South Dakota.

Memphis 3, Southern Illinois 1 (25-13, 25-21, 18-25, 25-21)

In the first official match at the Larry O. Finch Center, freshman and newcomers powered the Memphis Tigers (1-0, 0-0) to a 3-1 victory over Southern Illinois (0-1, 0-0). Memphis dominated the first two sets, but the Salukis didn't go down without a fight, as they won the third set and pushed the Tigers to the limit in the fourth and final set.

"It's been a long time, and I can't thank everyone enough, from our administration to our athletic trainers, to everyone else, and our players with all of the support that they've had," said head coach Sean Burdette. "It was great to be back out here, allow everyone to do what they love to do on the court, and at the end of the day, just go compete."

The Tigers won their opener 25-13, 25-21, 18-25, and 25-21. Freshman Sam Drewry led all players with 20 kills, while fellow freshman Bailey Houlihan led all players with 25 digs. Junior Sabrina Bianco's 45 assists led both teams as well. Drewry and Bianco each posted a double-double in the victory.

"Coming back in that final set starts to tell you about the team," said Burdette. "You always see things in practice and hope that it will translate, but it's tough to gauge when you're just playing against yourself. This was such a great team effort."
 
First Set
After Southern Illinois won the opening point, Memphis ran off six straight points and won 10 of the next 11 for an early 10-2 lead
Kinkaid Padgett's ace, the first for a Tigers player this season, made it 15-4 Memphis
Drewry's third kill of the opening set put Memphis in front 20-9
Junior Miaya Smith gave Memphis the first set victory with the kill
 
Second Set
Drewry opened up the set with a kill, one of her six in the set
The set featured seven ties, while Memphis took the lead for good on an ace by Padgett that made it 13-12
Southern Illinois used a quick 3-0 run to pull within two at 21-19
The Salukis used a timeout at set point for Memphis, but the Tigers won the set 25-21 two points later on a kill from sophomore Gigi Crescenzo
 
Third Set
Early kills from Drewry and Smith had the Tigers within a point, trailing 8-7
Southern Illinois took its largest lead of the match on a three-point run that made it 10-7
Drewry recorded three consecutive kills that pulled the Tigers within one at 11-10
The Salukis extended their lead to a then match-high seven points at 21-14
Southern Illinois closed out the set on a kill from Savannah Sheridan
 
Fourth Set
SIU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, highlighted by consecutive service aces from Rachel Maguire
The Tigers won 10 of the next 15 points to square the set at 10-10, one of nine ties in the set
Trailing 20-18, Memphis rattled off four consecutive points and took the lead for good at 21-20 on Drewry's 20th kill of the match
Jada Birkel secured Memphis' victory with a kill that snuck inside the back line, one of her four kills in the only set she appeared in