Friday, March 19

USF 3, Tulane 0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-22)	Box Score
Texas Tech 3, SMU 2 (22-25, 26-24, 25-21, 19-25, 15-12)	Box Score

USF 3, Tulane 0

The USF women's volleyball team (6-5; 3-3 American) posted their first 3-0, sweep victory of the season Friday, downing Tulane (7-9; 5-3 American) in a scheduled non-conference match-up in The Corral.
 
The Bulls tied a season-best with 10 service aces in the three-set victory: 25-21, 25-19 and 25-22. USF jumped to an early lead in the first set and held of rallies from Tulane in the second and third sets for their fourth conference win of the season.
 
The Bulls were led offensively for the second-straight match by middle blocker Makayla Washington (Tallahassee, Fla.) who posted 13 kills and a .346 hitting percentage. Freshman outside hitter Marta Cvitkovic (Rijeka, Croatia) added 10 kills and 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season and freshman Agata Plaga (Gizycko, Poland) returned from an injury to post six kills and a career-best three service aces. Setter Masha Idjilov (Chisinau, Moldova) added four service aces, tying her career high, and dished out 23 assists.
 
The Bulls took an early lead in the first set with back-to-back kills by Washington, which gave the Bulls a 15-12 lead and forced Tulane's first timeout of the match. The Green Wave came back with a 4-1 run, forcing a Bulls timeout at 19-18. USF mounted a 4-1 run of its own with kills by Washington and Plaga, which forced a second Tulane timeout at 23-19. Kills by Washington and Plaga wrapped up the first set, 25-21.  

The second set started out as a close see-saw battle. The Bulls used a 5-1 run fueled by kills by Jac St.Cin (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Sara Griffith (Chicago, Ill.), a solo block by Washington and an ace by Idjilov to force a Tulane timeout. USF kept the advantage with back-to-back kills by Griffith and Cvitkovic to hold a five-point advantage at 15-10. The Green Wave built momentum with a 3-0 run, forcing a Bulls timeout at 18-16. USF kept the lead with three combo blocks by St.Cin and Ally Barnhart (Lenexa, Ks.), along with a kill from each to close the second set, 25-19.
 
USF trailed early in the third set as Tulane attempted to rally. The Bulls trailed 11-7 when head coach Jolene Shepardson called a timeout. USF closed the gap with pair of kills by Plaga and Cvitkovic and aces by Idjilov and Alexis Williams (St. Louis, Mo.). Another ace by Plaga, a kill by Cvitkovic and a combo block by St.Cin and Barnhart gave the Bulls the lead, 16-15, and forced a Green Wave timeout. Tulane regained momentum as they mounted a 4-0 run and took the lead again at 20-19. Another ace by Idjilov forced a Tulane timeout with USF leading, 23-21. A final kill by Cvitkovic wrapped the third set, 25-22, and gave the Bulls their first sweep of the year.

Texas Tech 3, SMU 2

SMU fell 3-2 (22-25, 26-24, 25-21, 19-25, 15-12) to Texas Tech on Friday evening inside Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs (8-5, 4-4 AAC) took the opening set 25-22 after Jadyn Bauss and Rachel Woulfe both grabbed five kills in that set. Bria' Merchant had a career-high 36 digs and six assists in the match. BreyAnn Sands had a personal-best 10 digs. Kaylyn Winkler was a force at the net once again as she came away with a single-game high three block solos, as SMU secured a season-best five block solos on the evening.

Alex Glover led SMU and set a new career-high with a .600 (12-20) hitting percentage against the Red Raiders.  SMU was solid at the line tonight gathering a season-best .991 serve percentage and the lowest amount of service errors on the campaign (1). The Mustangs finished the match with six service aces (second highest total on the year).

After taking the opening-set, Texas Tech (8-13, 5-11 BIG 12) eventually took a 15-12 lead in the second set. A service error set up SMU with a 20-18 advantage. The Red Raiders swung the momentum to their side of the court and found set point 24-23. SMU forced extra points, but TTU tied the match up at one a piece. TTU began the third with a 17-9 lead. SMU later cut the lead down to three points (24-21), but the rally came up just short.

In the fourth set down 2-1, SMU held a slim lead most of the set and eventually held on to force a pivotal fifth set. Winkler paced the Mustangs in that set with four kills and two solo blocks. Neither team was able to run out to a lead larger than three points early in the final set, as it was tied at four and later at 10. TTU gained some ground with a 12-10 lead, but a kill by Woulfe and a service ace by Lily Heim tied the match up once again. Samantha Sanders notched five kills in that final set to lift TTU over SMU.

Sanders had a game-high 26 kills off of 66 attacks (.318) for the Red Raiders. Caitlin Dugan and Reagan Cooper added 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Lindsey Dodson led Texas Tech with 19 digs.