Backed by a huge crowd, USF hoped to use its momentum to beat intrastate rival FSU Tuesday in the Coral.

The Bulls (6-16, 3-6 C-USA) couldn’t seem to get over the hump against a veteran Seminole team that forced USF into 26 errors.

The Bulls had only five service errors in the game, but they all seemed to come at a time when USF was gaining some steam.

FSU (15-9) had three players notch double-digit kills, although the Bulls blocked six shots.

The Seminole defense held USF to .139 hitting percentage.

Offensively, the Bulls were led by freshman Michelle Stalbaum, who had 13 kills and 10 digs. Stalbaum was the only player for both squads to score a double-double on the evening.

Junior Flavia Silveira and sophomore Johari Williams followed closely with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. In game one, FSU had only one error while forcing seven to take the victory 30-24.

USF stayed in the game because of FSU’s service errors, but couldn’t pull out the victory.

In Game 2, the Bulls attempted a late comeback, blocking two shots at the net while FSU was at match point, leading 29-25.

The USF rally ended with a Stalbaum attack error to give the ‘Noles the win.

Despite losing Game 3 by the largest margin, the Bulls accumulated their largest lead of the night when they got ahead of FSU 12-8.

USF scored only seven more points in the game as the ‘Noles stormed back to take the game 30-19.

Although the match does not count against the Bulls conference record, they had every chance to take the games from FSU.

The Bulls committed 12 more errors than FSU and were out-killed 53-42. Sophomore Nikki Anthony led FSU on offense.

Anthony was an emotional force for the ‘Noles on the court, making play after play to kill a USF rally.

Anthony picked up 12 kills while only committing three errors for a .429 hitting percentage.

The Bulls dropped the all-time series to 36-7 against FSU and the team is now on a four- match losing streak.