Volleyball: Dons Dealt Losses By WCC Powerhouses San Diego and Brigham Young

USF hosted two ranked teams this past week at War Memorial Gym. The Dons suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat against No. 8 San Diego on Saturday afternoon, and were swept 3-0 by No. 21 Brigham Young two days earlier. Following this week’s matches, USF dropped to 11-13 overall and 7-7 in the West Coast Conference (WCC), and are currently tied for fifth place.

The Dons did all they could to upset San Diego (21-3, 13-2 WCC), but fell just short of a win. Led by freshman outside hitter Katarina Pilepic’s 21 kills, USF managed to push the match to a full five sets but was not able to notch the victory in the end.

“Pilepic is a force for us when she is on and we have to use her the most we can,” Head Coach Gilad Doron told USFDons.com. “She stayed positive today and was really on. We needed one more player to step up but San Diego is an incredible team. We are pretty close and if we keep our minds together we’ll be able to beat some teams down the stretch.”

After dropping the first set 25-18, the Dons rallied to win the next two sets and took a 2-1 lead.  In the pivotal fourth set, both teams were evenly matched and the score was held fairly close. However, after USF had built a 21-19 lead, the Toreros came back with five straight points and ultimately took the set 25-23.

In the final and deciding set, the Dons took an early 8-4 lead, putting themselves in position for a huge win. However, it was not meant to be, and San Diego pulled away to win the set 15-10 and clinch the victory. Along with Pilepic’s standout performance, junior middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik and senior outside hitter Malina Terrell added 17 and 12 kills respectively for the Dons.

USF faced BYU on Thursday with hopes of extending its four-game home winning streak. The Dons started out strong in the first set, keeping up with the WCC-leading Cougars early in the game until BYU (20-5, 13-2) went on multiple scoring runs. USF could not respond with points of their own and dropped the first set 25-20.

The second set followed a similar pattern, and going into the third set down 2-0, the Dons were in danger of losing to the Cougars in straight sets. BYU came back from the locker room after halftime extremely strong, and with the help of seven straight points, left USF with no chance of a comeback. The Cougars took the third set 25-8 and sat the Dons down in a 3-0 victory. In the defeat, San Francisco scored a team-high 11 kills from Pilepic along with 14 assists and 12 digs from senior setter Mackenzie Murtagh. USF looks to bounce back from a three-game losing streak when they meet up with the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif. on Thursday, Nov. 14.

Volleyball: Zaloznik Named WCC Player of the Week

It was a close match, but team leader junior middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik, last week’s WCC Player of the Week, and the rest of the Dons were able to hang on for dear life to pull out a victory against the University of Pacific. USF defeated the Tigers (11-9, 4-5 WCC) in five sets, 26-24, 25-21, 19-25, 18-25, 15-8, on Saturday, Oct. 18 at War Memorial Gym.

The Dons, who are now 9-10 on the season and 5-4 in conference play, were coming off a big win against Bay Area rival St. Mary’s on Thursday. Senior outside hitter/ middle blocker Malina Terrell and freshman opposite/outside hitter Katarina Pilepic led USF to the four set, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 2518 victory against the Gaels. San Francisco is one of just four WCC teams above .500 so far this season. On Saturday, the first two sets were anything but controlled as the lead went back and forth, foreshadowing that the Dons would be in it for the long haul.  Sensing a distinct rhythm that USF got into time and again, Pacific called several timeouts in the first two sets, but this was to no avail as the Dons were able to outlast the Tigers to go up 2-0.

Whatever Tigers Head Coach Greg Gibbons said to refocus his squad before the third set did the trick, as they marched out to an early 6-1 lead that the Dons never overcame. The lead see-sawed back and forth again in the fourth set, with the Tigers eventually holding on at the end to tie it up at 2-2.

Sensing a change in momentum that included two questionable calls by the referees, the Tigers looked like they were in prime position to win in the fifth set. However, the experience and demeanor of the Dons were too much for the Tigers to complete the comeback.
“It was not the first time this year that we have faced the fifth set so we knew what we were heading into,” Zaloznik said. “We knew we had to set up our game and fight back.”

The Dons did just that, as they held off Pacific 15-9 in the fifth set. The Tigers were looking to improve to their WCC record to 5-4 with the win, but the defense and hitting power of the Dons was simply too much for the Tigers to handle, as the dynamic duo of Zaloznik and Terrell posted 36 kills, leading an unstoppable Dons attack. Blocks were key for the Dons as well, exhilarating the crowd and helping the team at pivotal moments.

“We got some huge blocks in perfect timings,” said Zaloznik.

With the help of these well-timed blocks, the Dons were able to pick up their fifth WCC win and gather some momentum heading into their next match, which will be against Santa Clara on Friday, Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at War Memorial Gym.

 

Volleyball: Dons Make Epic Comeback, Defeat Santa Clara 3-2

Throughout the early portion of the 2013 season, the Dons have had to overcome numerous obstacles, but the team has already shown some serious resilience. This was evident in their most re- cent game, as the Dons came back from being down two sets to zero in Santa Clara to win 3-2 in improbable, comeback fashion. After San Francisco lost the first two sets by the scores of 20-25 and 17-25, it stepped its game up tremendously and swept Santa Clara the rest of the way by winning 27-25, 28-26, and 15-8.

USF had numerous players con- tribute to its victory. Junior middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik and freshman opposite/outside hit- ter Katarina Pilepic, two players who were named to the Aztec In- vitational All-Tournament Squad in mid-September, were both key to the victory in Santa Clara. Za- loznik had 12 kills and nine blocks, while Pilepic led the team with 14 kills. Pilepic also added eight digs to her impressive night. Other dominant players included senior setter Mackenzie Murtagh with 26 assists and sophomore outside hitter Ester de Vries, who had 15 digs.

“It was just an amazing performance, and I couldn’t be more proud of the team,” Head Coach Gilad Doron told usfdons.com. “It wasn’t necessarily a good day for individual performances, but as a team it was really amazing. They never gave up and gave everything they had to fight their way back.”

With the victory, the Dons are now 6-7 overall. Their record in the West Coast Conference is 2-1 after the end of their first conference- play road trip. USF had previously defeated Pepperdine on the road after losing at Loyola Marymount. Overall, this was a positive road trip for the Dons, and they also achieved something that had never happened in USF volleyball his- tory: Defeating Santa Clara and Pepperdine on the road in the same season for the first time ever.

“With the early WCC results across the league, we are seeing that anybody can beat anybody on a given night,” Doron told usfdons.com. “These two wins show that we’re responding to all the adversity early in the season, and hopefully it will build even more confidence and belief in our system and our team as we face our next challenge.”

USF hopes to build upon its rising success when it takes on Gonzaga on Oct. 3 at War Memorial Gymnasium at 6 p.m. Now that the Dons have proved that they can compete with anyone, the rest of the year looks to be very exciting. San Francisco will be looking to turn more heads in their direction, as the team has begun to garner that kind of respect with much of the regular season still left to be played.

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.

 

Volleyball: Dons Find Groove at Aztec Invitational

After a rough start to the season in which the Dons lost four of their first five matches, USF finally emerged on the victorious side at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego.

The Dons went 3-1 in their four matches in the tournament, which occurred on Sept. 13-14.  Two USF players were named to the Aztec Invitational All-Tournament Squad –– junior middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik and freshman opposite/outside hitter Katarina Pilepic.

On the final day of competition, USF went up against Harvard and San Diego State, and the Dons ended up splitting their match-ups against the two. USF was able to secure a 3-1 win against Harvard early on Saturday, by the scores of 25-20, 25-9, 16-25, and 25-20. Zaloznik led the team with 11 kills. After that, USF faced the host San Diego State Aztecs in their final match. While the Dons kept it competitive throughout each game, San Diego State was the ultimate victor. The Aztecs swept the Dons 24-26, 17-25, and 18-25.

San Francisco started the weekend with matches against Southern Methodist and Northeastern on Friday, both of which they won. The contest between USF and SMU lasted five games, but the Dons prevailed in a very close battle by defeating the SMU Mustangs 3-2 with scores of 25-21, 27-29, 27-25, 21-25, and 15-13. Pilepic and junior opposite/outside hitter Anja Segota pioneered the team to victory with 12 kills each.

Later on Friday, USF was also victorious against Northeastern 3-1, by scores of 22-25, 26-24, 25-13, and 25-19. Zaloznik again paved the way for the offense, leading the Dons with 19 kills. Her excellent performances during both Friday matches earned her a spot on the Aztec Invitational All-Tournament Squad, along with Pilepic.

After all four matches had concluded, USF improved their overall record to 4-6. Many players, aside from Zaloznik and Pilepic, contributed to the Dons’ successful weekend. Senior setter Mackenzie Murtagh had 92 assists and 38 digs by the end of the tournament.  Freshman outside hitter Emily Reed had 29 kills and 10 digs during a weekend in which she made her first start in college volleyball.

“We are very proud of the entire team and how we responded,” Head Coach Gilad Doron said to usfdons.com. “We learned a lot more about our team depth this weekend and got three wins. At times we played with four and five freshmen on the floor, and everyone stepped up,” Doron said.

The victories that the Dons secured in the Aztec Invitational have given the team confidence going into the rest of the season, which will consist of conference play from here on out. The Dons will face West Coast Conference opponent Loyola Marymount in their next match on Sept. 19 in Los Angeles. This match will mark the beginning of a three-game road trip for USF, and the momentum gained from the Aztec Invitational may serve them well as the season heats up.