USF drops two over weekend to ranked opponents

Freshman Adrian Billhardt (above) was named the AAC rookie of the week. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/GOUSFBULLS

After a home win on Aug. 28 to start the Bob Butehorn era, the Bulls went on the road for the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Indiana and finished the weekend winless.

Starting with an overtime loss to No. 17 Butler 2-1, USF fell to No. 7 Indiana (4-0) on Sunday 3-0 in front of 3,168 in attendance at Bill Armstrong Stadium, despite recording the same number of shots as the Hoosiers.

Even with the lopsided score, coach Butehorn said the game against Indiana was a lot closer than the score suggested. 

“The score definitely does not reflect the quality of which our guys played,” Butehorn said following the loss. “We gained valuable experience on the road and will continue to take steps to improve our focus in critical moments of the game.” 

The Bulls look to utilize their experience gained from the weekend on Friday when the Bulls travel to Omaha, Nebraska to face No. 23 Creighton who went 1-1 over the past weekend.

Three games into the season, senior forward Bradley Farias leads the team with two goals. 

After Creighton, USF will return home for a four-game home stand beginning Sept. 14 against Stetson and concludes with a match against UCF on Sept. 23 at Corbett Stadium.

 

Women’s soccer loses to Ohio State

 

USF fell to Ohio State 6-2 on Sunday night in front of 682 fans in Columbus, Ohio.

In the loss, sophomore Aubrey Megrath and freshman Sarah Harrison each scored their first goals of the season against Ohio State (4-0-1), which was in the NCAA tournament last season.

“We talked a lot about capitalizing on opportunities high up the field and I thought we matched up well against them systematically,” Ohio State coach Lori Walker-Hock said after defeating USF. “We did a really good job of capitalizing on their mistakes. I’m really pleased with the variety in our attack and the ability to have six different players score a goal.”

USF (3-2-0), which has more newcomers than returning players in 2017, will return home for a game against Mississippi State on Thursday before traveling to play Florida next Sunday in Gainesville.

Through five games, Sophomore Evelyne Vienes leads the team with four goals. As a freshman in 2016, Vienes scored a program record 16 goals and was named the American Athletic Conference rookie of the year. 

 

Volleyball to play in third tournament of season

 

USF (2-4) finished the Bulldog Invitational in Starkville, Mississippi 1-2, defeating Grambling State (2-5) three sets to none on Saturday night, but fell to Stephen F. Austin (7-1) and Mississippi State (4-3) Friday.

In the tournament, USF junior middle blocker Clara Payne was named to the all-tournament team after recording match highs of six kills and six blocks with an .857 hitting percentage in the Bulls’ win against Grambling State.

“As a whole we were sharp and consistent today,” USF coach Courtney Draper said after Saturday’s win. “Our middies (middle hitters) were excellent both offensively and defensively. Our solid passing from the setters really allowed us to spread the offense and get contributions from a number of people.”

Now, with two tournaments under their belt, USF returns home to host the USF Classic tournament. The Bulls will play Bethune-Cookman Friday at 7 p.m. before facing FAU at 1 p.m. and Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. Saturday.