Dons Headed to NCAA Championships After Fourth-Place Team Finish at West Regionals

In a field of 32 teams competing for limited spots at Nationals, the Dons remained poised. No. 17 San Francisco continued its excellent season on Friday, Nov. 15 with a fourth place team finish at the NCAA West Regionals in Sacramento and earned a trip to Indiana to compete at the NCAA Championships.

USF kept its season alive by earning an at-large bid after finishing behind Arizona, Stanford, and Oregon at Regionals. Seven San Francisco runners participated in the 6,000-meter race (3.7 miles) at Haggin Oaks Golf Course, and each of them gave their all with only 43 seconds separating the entire Dons team.

Graduate student Bridget Dahlberg was at the head of the pack for USF, crossing the finish line in 21st place with a time of 20:11, a season-best among all Dons athletes. Dahlberg may have recorded the top time, but until the very end of the race, she was trailing junior Kate Jamboretz who crossed the line at 20:12. Using her teammate’s speed as motivation, Dahlberg kicked it into gear and was able to pass Jamboretz to finish just a second ahead of her fellow Don.

“I really feel like we all can run together,” Dahlberg told USFDons.com. “We do it every day at practice. So when Kate passed me, it was kind of a wake-up call to myself that I could do it — and then I just wanted to finish hard.” The depth and consistency of the Dons’ squad was on full display at Regionals, as sophomore Elena Burkard came in right behind Dahlberg and Jamboretz with a time of 20:13, good for 24th place out of 177 total runners. Soon after, seniors Eva Krchova and Maor Tiyouri completed the race in 20:28 and 20:32, respectively.
 Having numerous runners with strong times has been a staple of San Francisco’s success this season. In any given race — whether it is Dahlberg, Jamboretz, Tiyouri, or someone else — each Don is a threat to make their way to the front of the group. By getting solid times from all contributors, the Dons were, for the fifth year in a row, able to dominate the WCC and claim the conference title.

“We always have a different combination at the finish, and I think that just shows how deep we are and how good we are,” Dahlberg told USFDons.com. “I think that’s the best way you can go into Nationals.”

The NCAA Championships will take place in Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday, Nov. 23. Head Coach Helen Lehman-Winters was proud of her group for the way they ran in Sacramento, but she is now focused on preparing for the race that will define the Dons’ season.

“We’ve been a team over the last five years that has demonstrated that we can compete at the NCAA Championships, but we’ve also come up short at this meet,” Lehman-Winters told USFDons.com. “I think we set ourselves up nicely this year. We went to the right meets, we got the job done at Notre Dame and Wisconsin, and it took a lot of pressure off us coming into this meet. It just allowed us to run well, but [to] save our biggest race for next weekend.”

Although they have certainly had a spectacular year thus far, winning a WCC title and having five runners in the Top 40 at Regionals warrants high expectations for the national competition. If the Dons hope to reverse their history of underperforming at the championship meet, then the time is now.

Volleyball: Waves Crushed by Pipelic and Zaloznik’s Combined 35 Kills; Dons Victorious at Peppedine For Second Time Ever

USF opened West Coast Conference play on the road this season with games against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine last week. On Thursday, Sept. 19 the Dons fell to the LMU Lions in straight sets in Los Angeles, Calif. before heading to Malibu, Calif to play the Pepperdine Waves on Saturday.

The matchup against Pepperdine at Firestone Fieldhouse proved to be a close one, with the Dons eventually taking it 3-2 (16-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-14, 15-6) and earning their first WCC win of the season.

The Waves, a consistently strong contender for the WCC title, couldn’t compete with the Dons offense, led by junior middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik and freshman outside hitter Katarina Pilepic. The strong duo combined for 35 kills while senior setter Mackenzie Murtagh and freshman setter Kiara McKibben contributed with 26 and 17 assists respectively.

The two teams traded wins throughout the first four sets with Pepperdine taking the first win. However, the Dons managed to start the fifth set strong and bested the Waves 15-6 to emerge victorious.

“This is a great team win for us on the road at a place we only won once before in school history,” head coach Gilad Doran told USFDons.com. “Val [Zaloznik] led our team from the very start till the last point, but we had so many players stepping up in different times and making great contributions today.”

On Thursday, the Dons travelled to the Gersten Pavillion in to play their first WCC game against LMU. USF came up short and lost in straight sets, though they managed to keep the score close throughout most of the game, falling 25-22, 25-26 and 25-22. Pilepic led the team with 12 kills while Zaloznik added eight. The Lions took the victory thanks to their strong offense; they outhit the Dons by 14 percent with 50 kills.

USF finished the road trip with a 1-1 WCC record and are now 5-7 on the season. The Dons continue conference play against Santa Clara on Sept. 26 at Santa Clara, Calif. before hosting Gonzaga and Portland at home on Oct. 3 and Oct. 5.