Draper dismissed from USF volleyball
USF has made its second coaching change in a week, as Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly announced Wednesday his decision to not renew the contract of volleyball coach Courtney Draper.
In her eight seasons in charge, Draper’s Bulls were 117-135 and 61-86 in conference play.
“I would like to thank Coach Draper for her eight years of service to our university and her contributions to our volleyball program,” Kelly said in a statement. “Courtney and her staff have worked hard and led our program with integrity on and off the court. However, I believe we can achieve greater success on the court and the time is right for a new direction and new leadership.
“USF volleyball has a bright future, and I am very optimistic that we can identify and secure a new head coach that our current student-athletes will embrace and thrive under, and that will recruit high character and top-performing volleyball players to our program.”
While the Bulls posted a 20-12 record and earned a bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship in 2018 — the program’s first postseason bid since 2002 — the 2019 season was anything but fruitful.
USF went 7-23 and 1-15 in the AAC, including 15 straight losses to end the season. During the 15-match losing streak, the Bulls only won a total of nine sets and fell in straight sets eight times.
While no information was released on the status of the rest of the coaching staff, none of Draper’s assistants remain on USF’s website.
No replacement was immediately named by Kelly.
More Stories
Looking into USF’s final nonconference series
Conference play is creeping up on South Florida baseball as the calendar approaches March 31, but USF (8-14) will first have to take on Virginia Commonwealth for a three-game slate. Beginning Friday, the Bulls will aim to improve their record against the Rams (10-11) after struggling to log a weekend sweep all season long. Pitching […]
USF softball midseason report card
At the season’s midpoint, USF softball has garnered nearly as many losses as their previous season total. While the Bulls’ (19-15) offensive production leaves a bit to be desired by scoring just 3.44 runs per night, their high-skilled opponents should be taken into account. In its first 34 games, South Florida competed against No. 16 […]
‘We’re moving in a new direction’: Golesh working toward improving program culture
When coach Alex Golesh stepped up to take on the difficult task of transforming a football team with a losing record into a successful one, he said he knew it would be a lot of work. In a Tuesday press conference, he acknowledged the first spring practices have been used to establish a new culture […]
Potential candidates for men’s basketball head coaching position
Shortly after Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Kelly announced the firing of coach Brian Gregory on March 10, many names have surfaced as potential candidates to fill the newly-opened position. Gregory’s dismissal occurred less than 24 hours after the Bulls lost 73-58 to ECU in the first round of the AAC tournament. A […]
No. 1 South Carolina’s defense halts USF’s NCAA title hopes
After a valiant effort in the first half against No. 1 South Carolina, No. 8 USF women’s basketball’s season came to an end after a 76-45 loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Friday afternoon in Columbia, South Carolina. Although the odds were against them, the Bulls (27-7) defense put pressure on […]
Bulls log first weekend series win
It was the bottom of the ninth in the tie game between South Florida and Army on Friday night when junior infielder John Montes stepped into the box. He took one deep breath and swung away, sending a ball over the fence to walk off the Black Knights (7-10) 8-7. Montes continued the momentum […]