The No. 17 USF women’s soccer team defeated the East Carolina Pirates 1-0 in Greenville, North Carolina, on Sunday, marking the team’s fourth consecutive shutout and also making it the first time in program history that the Bulls have opened the season with four consecutive shutouts. 

The Bulls (3-0-1, 2-0-0 AAC) and Pirates (1-3-1, 1-1-1 AAC) went into the break tied, but senior midfielder Meghan Cavanaugh scored the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute. 

“Today’s match was not easy,” coach Denise Schilte-Brown said after the game. “The Pirates were ready for us and it took us a long time to gain momentum. I’m proud of the girls for fighting through to the end and pulling out a victory. Good teams find a way to win even on a bad day.”

Volleyball loses 3-2 against Cincinnati 

USF pushed defending AAC champions Cincinnati to five sets on both March 4 and March 5, before ultimately falling short 3-2 on both days in the Corral.

The days were identical in terms of which team won each set. The Bearcats (6-3, 4-0) took the first set on both days before the Bulls (5-5, 3-3) claimed victory in the second and third. However, Cincinnati would win the fourth and fifth sets on both days to secure the win.

Despite the loss, freshman Marta Cvitkovic marked a new career high with five service aces Thursday. Sophomore Ally Barnhart posted a career-best nine blocks and sophomore Makayla Washington tallied 20 kills and hit .417 on Friday. Freshman Sara Griffith also impressed as she posted a new career-best five total blocks and two solo blocks. 

Men’s basketball falls short at Wichita State 

The Bulls lost 80-63 on Saturday as the Shockers lit up Charles Koch Arena.

USF (8-12, 4-10 AAC) was without starting freshman guard Caleb Murphy and starting redshirt junior forward Alexis Yetna, as both were ruled out of the game due to injury.

Issues with taking care of the basketball and only knocking down three three-pointers proved to be costly for the Bulls.

A bright spot in the loss was the play of junior center Michael Durr. Durr posted a career-high 18 points and was on the cusp of a double-double with nine rebounds. Redshirt junior forward Prince Oduro also scored a season-high eight points and added four rebounds. 

The Bulls now shift their attention to Temple as they are set to begin the AAC tournament  Thursday at noon in Texas.

USF women’s cross country places second overall at FSU

The USF women’s cross country team came in second at the FSU Last Chance Meet on Friday, which was headlined by the performance of sophomore Alexandra Weir who placed 13th overall. 

The men finished fifth as sophomore Ben Kailes ran an 8K time of 25:58.1, which landed him in 35th place.

“This meet provided valuable experience to both teams,” coach Erik Jenkins said. “We realize there is still room for improvement, but the women were able to [secure] a second-place finish.”