Volleyball earns 700th win, loses remainder of tourney

The USF volleyball team (3-5) couldn’t take advantage of its win Friday night against Jacksonville. The Bulls lost both matches Saturday to finish the Smoothie King Invite with a 1-2 record.

USF beat the Jacksonville Dolphins on Friday by a score of 3-0 (30-18, 30-18, 30-24). The win was the 700th in program history. Freshman Marcela Gurgel had 15 kills in the match.USF finished with a .250 hitting percentage and limited the Dolphins to just .032.

In Game 2 of the tournament, the Bulls lost to Wright State 3-2 (23-30, 24-30, 30-27, 30-16, 15-12). USF took a 2-0 lead but couldn’t finish off the Raiders, who entered the match with a 1-7 record.

In her second start, freshman Brittany Castelamare earned her first career double-double with 57 assists and 11 digs. Castelamare was impressive as the USF setter during the tournament. She finished the weekend with 135 assists.In the tournament finale, USF lost to Texas Tech by a score of 3-0 (30-20, 30-17, 30-25). Texas Tech outplayed the Bulls and finished the tournament 3-0. The Red Raiders won the tournament by beating Wright State on Friday and Jacksonville on Saturday morning.

The Bulls were once again led by Gurgel, who had 14 kills. Texas Tech outhit USF .394 to .212. The Red Raiders controlled the speed of play, taking the Bulls out of their game.

Gurgel was the lone Bull to be named to the Smoothie King Invite all-tournament team.