Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
MURPHREESBORO, Tenn. – The University of San Francisco volleyball team faced stout non-conference competition in a pair of ACC opponents Saturday in the Blue Raider Bash.
USF dropped both of the day's matches, 3-1 to North Carolina and 3-2 to Notre Dame, but come away from the season-opening tournament with plenty of positives to propel the team forward.
"We learned a lot about our team this weekend. Obviously, it's not the results that we were looking for but I think we played three really quality opponents and we learned a lot about who we are and I think it will serve us well the rest of the season," head coach
Gilad Doron said. "The team showed a lot of heart and  fought hard in every game, and we had a chance to win in every game. It was good to see that we had contributions from so many players at different times."
Senior
Malina Terrell finished the three-game series with a team-high 46 kills on a .340 attack percentage en route to the All-Tournament Team. Setting duties were shared and the trio was led by
Mackenzie Murtagh's 66 assists, with
Kiara McKibben and
Jurja Vlasic stepping into fill the role effectively as well. Senior
Rebecca Kopilovitch led the way with 54 digs, pacing seven players who reached double-digit dig totals on the weekend.
Inbar Vinarsky added a team-high 10 total blocks, one solo, and
Valentina Zaloznik finished with five service aces for USF to contribute to the total team effort on display by the Dons.
Up first for USF on Saturday was a morning meeting with North Carolina and the Dons started with a 25-20 win in the first set, led by freshman
Katarina Pilepic's four kills and Vlasic's five digs. The Dons out-hit the Tar Heels .282 to .222 to open the day, before North Carolina came racing back to win the next three sets and take the match.
In the second set, the Dons jumped out to a 4-1 advantage before North Carolina enjoyed a 9-1 run to build up a lead that USF couldn't overcome, falling 25-18. After halftime, USF jumped out to an early lead after Zaloznik and
Sara Staengle combined for a solid block to put the Dons up 5-3. North Carolina capitalized on key runs to put their squad up by as many as seven in the set before the Dons had some momentum of their own in the form of a 10-3 run to tie the set at 23-23 and again at 24-all after a kill from
Anja Segota forced the set to extra points.
The fourth set was hotly contested, with tie scores at 11-11, 15-15, 18-18 and 21-21 before North Carolina escaped the set with a 25-23 win to take the match.
Less than an hour later, the Dons were back in action playing Notre Dame. The day's second contest for both the Dons and the Fighting Irish, Notre Dame jumped out to a two-set advantage, after sets of 25-21 and 27-25.
Despite the deficit, the halftime break was a benefit to USF who stopped the Notre Dame momentum and won the third set 25-23 in wire-to-wire fashion. The Dons were on a roll in the fourth as well, again building an early lead with Kopilovitch at the serve. USF tied the match with a decisive 25-20 set win punctuated by a Zaloznik kill to end the frame.
However, fatigue of the day and the tournament caught up to the squad in the fifth, as Notre Dame strung together four-straight points to pull out to a 9-5 advantage. After Segota's kill notched a point for USF, the Fighting Irish went on another run to finish the set with a 15-9 final and send USF home still seeking its first win of the season.
"We started down two to Notre Dame, tied it back up and then we ran out of gas a little bit," Doron said of the final match of the tournament. "But I've got to give the girls tons of credit for sticking with the system and believing in one another. We saw some things that if we can work on we can be a much better team. I think our players have a much clearer understanding of what they need to work on to get better in order for us to come up with wins against good teams."
Those skills will be put to the test soon, as USF hosts the Bay Area Challenge this weekend. The Dons welcome Long Beach State, Air Force and Miami to the Hilltop for Friday and Saturday games and Doron is excited to see the team rise to the occasion.
"We definitely have to work hard this week before we play Long Beach, Miami and Air Force at home," he said. Even though it will be challenging, I know it's going to be a great tournament."
Tournament tickets ||
Schedule information
