Volleyball drops two more Big East matches

The USF volleyball team suffered yet another disappointing loss Friday night at The Corral, losing in four games to a more-determined Pittsburgh team 30-24, 21-30, 21-30, 16-30.

The Bulls (1-11, 0-4 Big East) won the first game against the Panthers (9-7, 2-1 Big East) but lost the following three.

Coach Claire Lessinger wasn’t very impressed with her team’s performance.

“I just don’t think in Games Two, Three and Four we executed the game plan that we did in Game One,” Lessinger said. “And that’s been one of our problems all year. That’s one of the frustrations that I feel like is a big obstacle for us to overcome right now, just being able to apply what we learn in practice all week and what we put in place to beat an opponent – doing it, and doing it consistently. And we’re not doing that.”

USF took charge early in Game One and never looked back. The Bulls began with a 10-0 run with solid serving from senior setter Kelsi Andrew-Wasylik and hard kills by sophomore Kristina Fabris.

In the second game, the Bulls kept pace with the Panthers, tying the score several times, but came up short. USF had 11 errors in Game Two to Pittsburgh’s five.

The Bulls tried their best to match Pittsburgh’s relentless attack in Game Three, but to no avail. Pittsburgh’s outside hitter Diana Andreyko put continuous pressure on USF’s defense with a remarkable seven kills in the third contest.

USF never had a chance in Game Four as the Panthers dominated from start to finish.The frustrating loss has become an all too familiar outcome for the young Bulls.

“They’re beatable, just like every team we’ve played this season,” Fabris said. “It’s disappointing to look back on the game and see that we could have won.”

The Bulls were led by junior Johari Williams, who had 13 kills and 13.5 points, and Fabris, who had 11 kills and 15 points in the match.

“We could have beat that team if we were all playing together,” Williams said. “But we just made too many mistakes.”

Despite another losing effort, Lessinger saw the emergence of a potential offensive threat.”Johari Williams, this is her coming-out night, and I think that’s a big relief for the whole team,” Lessinger said. “It’s the first time she’s really swung all year, and her shoulder is feeling good. I think she is going to add some relief for Kristina and we need that. We need some more offensive weapons to be able to balance our attack.”

On Sunday, the Bulls dropped another match to West Virginia 30-22, 26-30, 30-23, 30-19 as the Bulls lost 3-1 and Fabris posted an 11-kill outing.