On the road again

With the South Florida volleyball team playing arguably the best it has all year — winning three straight matches — the Bulls have a chance to prove they’re one of the best teams in the Big East this weekend.

And they’ll have a national stage to try and do so.

The Bulls (15-8, 5-3) will face two teams on the road that are ahead of them in the Big East standings — Cincinnati (20-5, 7-2) and Louisville (10-10, 6-3). The Louisville game will be televised at 2 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU. USF coach Claire Lessinger said she is relishing the opportunity for her team.

“I can’t remember the last time our team has played on national TV,” she said. “It means our program is in a great position and I want our players to experience this.”

The Bulls will play at Cincinnati on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Despite the challenges ahead, Lessinger said she is excited to see to how her team responds.

“We have two really big matches this weekend,” Lessinger said. “I’m excited about them because we get to see how we match up against the top teams in the Big East. Louisville and Cincinnati are two very tough environments to play in.”

Junior Alli Arbogast and senior libero Stephanie Augustavo said they believe this is a huge opportunity for the USF program to gain more recognition.

“It’s awesome,” Arbogast said. “It’s great for our program and we hope that we are able to perform well.”

“It’s going to be amazing,” Augustavo said. “I never expected to be able to play on national TV. There’s going to be a lot of people watching us on Sunday and it will put our program on the map.”