Complete tournament notesMatch 7: San Francisco (6-0, 0-0) vs. Cornell (2-1, 0-0 Ivy) | Sept. 11 at 11 a.m. PTAll-time vs. Big Red: 2-0 • 1-0 neutral
Current streak: W2
Last meeting: 09/22/07 (N) • W 3-0; 30-11, 30-27, 30-10
Match 8: USF vs. George Mason (4-3, 0-0 Atlantic 10) | Sept. 11 at 1:30 p.m. PTAll-time vs. Patriots:Â First meeting
Current streak: -
Match 9: USF vs. Central Connecticut (5-1, 0-0 NEC) | Sept. 12 at 7 a.m. PTAll-time vs. Blue Devils:2-0 • 1-0 neutral
Current streak: W2
Last meeting: 09/20/08 (N) • W, 3-1; 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-15
Match 10: USF at St. John's | Sept. 12 at 12 p.m. PTAll-time vs. Red Storm:1-0 • 0-0 away
Current streak: W1
Last meeting:09/06/97 (H) • W, 3-1; 15-8, 7-15, 15-10, 15-5
#15sports1team
After winning the title in its first two tournaments of the season - the San Francisco Invitational and the Utah State Gossner Invitational - the Dons look to capitalize on a six-match winning streak as the team travels to the East Coast for the first time since 2006.
St. John's Jack Kaiser Classic Schedule
Friday, Sept. 11C • 11 a.m.  • George Mason vs. St. John's
T • 11 a.m. • Cornell vs. USF
C • 1:30 p.m. • Central Connecticut vs. Cornell
T • 1:30 p.m. • USF vs. George Mason
C • 4 p.m. • Central Connecticut vs. St. John's
Saturday, Sept. 12T • 7 a.m. • Cornell vs. St. John's
C • 7 a.m. • Central Connecticut vs. USF
C • 9:30 a.m. • George Mason vs. Central Connecticut
T • 12 p.m. • Cornell vs. George Mason
C • 12 p.m. • St. John's vs. USF
-all times Pacific; C - at Carnasecca Arena; T - at Taffner Field House
What 2 Watch 4
As a team, the Dons are outhitting opponents .272 to .135, ranking second in the West Coast Conference in each category. Stout on the block, USF rates second in the league in blocks per set (2.81), paced by freshman
Madison Murtagh's 1.62 stuffs per set.
Junior
Katarina Pilepic leads the USF offense with 80 kills on .312 hitting and 92.5 points. Along with Murtagh's block figure, which is second in the conference, her and
Oluoma Okaro both land in the top 10 in hitting percentage at seventh and eighth, respectively.
Kiara McKibben paces the team with 164 assists for the Dons, and her career tally of 1,536 assists rates at 10th-best in USF history.
Know the Foes
Cornell enters the weekend with just one tournament under the belts of the Big Red. The squad sits at 2-1 with wins over William & Mary and Iona under first-year head coach Trudy Vande Berg. This will be the third time the Dons and Big Red have tussled, with USF taking victories in each of the previous two iterations in the series.
George Mason has recorded a 4-3 mark in the early-goings of the season after splitting its four matches in the D.C. Classic last weekend. Senior outside hitter Morghan Martin was named to the All-Tournament team after a 54-kill effort on the weekend. The meeting with the Patriots will be the first for a USF squad.
Central Connecticut sports a 5-1 record on the season, leading the Northeast Conference in opponent hitting percentage, assists per set and blocks per set. The Blue Devils are led by Raquel Qrirarte on offense (4.00 k/s), and reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Week in libero Rachel Fish (4.16 d/s). USF and Central Connecticut have met twice before, with the Dons earning wins in both contests.
St. John's, tournament hosts for the weekend in New York, enters the Jack Kaiser Classic with a 5-2 mark after a successful outing in Moraga, Calif., in which the Red Storm defeated WCC-foe Saint Mary's in five sets. St. John's holds a 5-2 record and is riding a four-match winning streak heading into the Classic. The Dons and the Red Storm have met but once before, a victory for USF in 1997.
Last Time Out
The Dons took care of Utah State, 3-0, in the tournament finale from Logan, Utah. Katarina PIlepic led the charge with 15 kills, while
Kiara McKibben added 28 assists and a trio of Dons finished with 10 digs apiece. Also defeating Southern Utah and Middle Tennessee on the weekend, USF earned the tournament title and remained unbeaten on the season.
Tournament Award Winners
Junior
Katarina Pilepic was named San Francisco Invitational Most Valuable Player after leading the Dons with 39 kills on .303 hitting in USF's three matches at home, and followed up her first weekend of the season with an All-Tournament nod at the Utah State Invitational. There, Pilepic finished with a team-high 41 kills and 46.0 points. Changing places with Pilepic, freshman
Madison Murtagh earned a spot on the USF Invitational All-Tournament squad with an impressive 19 total blocks in her first weekend on the Hilltop to go along with 23 kills, and followed up her performance with an MVP weekend in the Dons' three matches in Utah. Continuing to be big on the block, she added 15 stuffs and 27 kills on an efficient 43.4 percent hitting en route to the top spot. Other All-Tournament performers on the year include
Kim Gutierrez (USF Invitational) and
Jessica Gaffney (Utah State Invitational).
A Look Ahead
After the swing through the Big Apple, USF returns home to host the San Francisco Challnege. The Dons welcome Yale, Cal State Fullerton and North Dakota State to War Memorial Gym for the last weekend of non-conference action. Then, top 25 teams BYU and San Diego come to the Hilltop to open WCC play on Sept. 24 and 26.
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