USF Volleyball Takes on New Mexico State

The Bulls take on New Mexico State in the second game of the season.

USF takes on New Mexico State (5 PM tip off) in the second game of the New Mexico Invite. New Mexico State is another powerful team that will give the lady Bulls all they can handle in this one. New Mexico State is coming off of a 18-13 season (12-4 in conference, 8-3 at home, 8-6 away) and 2-4 in neutral sites. Expect a home crowd to be in the stands for them as the Bulls look to get off to a solid start in 2011.


New Mexico State lost their first game of the season, but pushed #5 Nebraska to 5 games in their first match before dropping to 0-1 on the season. This is going to be a very tough game for the Bulls.

USF Ladies Drop First Game to New Mexico

The 2011 USF volleyball season got off to a rough start last night as the ladies dropped the first game of the New Mexico Invite 3 to 1 to New Mexico and start the season at 0-1.

The Bulls came out firing in the first set, winning 29-27, but dropped the next three sets, 25-19, 25-19, and 25-21. Despite the loss, the Bulls and Coach Lessinger came away proud of her team that has 6 new comers that have not played in real competitive matches at the collegiate level before.

Outside hitter J'Beria Davis led the way with 17 skills for the match. Jessica Burghhart had 32 assists, 8 digs, and 2 service aces. Senior Janice Rivera had 6 assists and 15 digs to lead the way. Valerie El Houssin had 7 kills, 2 assists, and 11 digs. Andrea Rodriguez Gomez had 3 kills, 2 digs, and 7 blocks as well.

The ladies will be back in action this afternoon with the second game of the tournament against New Mexico State (0-1) who dropped a rough game to #5 Nebraska to start their season, so it doesn't get any easier for the ladies.

USF Ladies Beat Indiana 2 to 1

Chelsea Klotz had the deciding goal in the USF ladies win over Indiana , 2 to 1.

The USF ladies soccer season continues as they beat Indiana 2 to 1 and improve to 1-1-0 as they open the new home stadium for the first time.

The Bulls came out firing to start the game, but the heat played a major factor and seemed to fatigue both teams late in the contest, but the ladies were able to endure the heat. Chelsea Klotz led the way for the Bulls (what else is knew). She took 6 shots on the night, 4 on goal, and scored in the second half to put the Bulls ahead for good.

Klotz sat most of the first half with some fatigue, but was the most dynamic player on the field and controlled everything. Senior Demi Stokes, batting an ankle injury, took 5 shots (4 on goal) and scored the first goal of the game in the first half. Stokes was limited in the first game of the season, but came out firing in this game and helped the Bulls offense move the ball and get a goal on the board.

The rest of the ladies played a solid match as they notched their first victory of the season in the new stadium. Anne Vikre and Boo Simon played all 90 minutes. Defensive specialist Molly Stack played all 90 minutes as well, taking 2 shots on the night. McClure stopped 7 shots on the night as she played well in the net to cool off Indiana, a team that had scored quite a few goals to start the season.

The ladies will return to the field on Sunday to take on Alabama A&M.

USF Basketball Receives Bad News

Coach Heath and team got some bad news tonight.

As we all get amped for football season, we have bad news to report for the basketball team (Stan Heath is probably crying at his desk right now).

According to Greg Auman tonight, JUCO transfer Andre Jackson (6-10 285-pounds) has not met NCAA transfer regulation rules and will not be able to join the program or university this season, meaning the team is now a man down.

This is just awful news for Coach Stan Heath tonight. With Jarrid Famous graduating, it will leave Heath with a short bench of post players with Augustus Gilchrist (imagined if he actually went to the NBA, hilarious), Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, and Ron Anderson Jr. to take over in the post. This gives the Bulls no size in the paint and will make life even harder.

Sigh well at least Heath got some "good" news in the same night. Center Jordan Omogbehin (7-3) has been allowed by the NCAA to enroll at USF this fall, allowing him to attend classes but he will not be able to play this season.

Omogbehin will now enroll full time in the winter semester, but will not be able to take the court for the Bulls, so even worse news for Coach Heath.

This 2011 season basketball season is going to be another long year for the Bulls and Coach Heath, sigh, what else is new.

Stephen Bravo-Brown to Be Put on Scholarship

Wide receiver Stephen Bravo-Brown will be placed on scholarship, according to Coach Holtz. (Picture: www.tampabay.com)

From Adam Adkins - After a scrimmage today, Coach Holtz stated that he will put former walk-on wide receiver Stephen Bravo-Brown on scholarship.

The 5-10 178-pound receiver (sophomore) walked-on last season and made a solid contribution to the team. Bravo-Brown started two games for the Bulls when injuries mounted for the team, making a total of 11 receptions on the season for 104 yards.

Bravo-Brown had been working hard through camp and has displayed great flashes to the coaches and now he is being rewarded for his hard work, so congratulations to the young man and getting recognized.

This also limits the Bulls on the number of scholarships they will have for the season. Tight end Michael McFarland still remains a walk-on as the Bulls await the decision of the NCAA for his hardship waiver.

More news and notes will be coming later from the scrimmage today (thanks to Adkins and Greg Auman) including Holtz disappointed in the sloppy play of the offense and some great plays from freshman that continue to shine.

USF Volleyball Takes on New Mexico

The Bulls will be facing the New Mexico Lobos and Kelly Williamson, a tough first matchup.

The 2011 season is finally here and the Bulls travel to the desert to take on New Mexico in the New Mexico Invitational to get it going (tip off at 7:30 PM).

The New Mexico Lobos are coming off of a successful season in 2010, going 20-10 (12-4 in conference play) and went 13-2 at home, so this is going to be a very tough first test for the ladies in their quest to make the Big East tournament.

The Lobos are led by senior outside-hitter Kelly Williamson (6-2). She had 296 kills last season (2.79 kills per set). She also had 7 service aces and had 83 digs so she will be the focus of the offense for the Lobos and an active player against the Bulls. Senior middle-blocker Ashley Rhoades (5-11) had 256 kills last season (2.42 kills per set). She also had 4 service aces. Sophomore middle blocker Lexi Ross (6-2) had 11 kills last season and will figure to be more of a threat this season. The Lobos are a well coaches team with a solid group of veterans and youth, so this is going to be a very tough match up.

The Bulls will need key players such as Kelsey Palmer, Janice Rivera, and others to step up in this first game of the season and set the tone and come out firing in the first game. After this game, the ladies will take on New Mexico State in the second game.

We will have the full game recap after it goes final.

USF Making Some Tweaks

Michael Lanaris has taken over the middle linebacker spot with Barrington moving to strong side linebacker.

As Adam Adkins has noted, the offensive line for the Bulls seems to be shifting just a bit more as they make their final preparations for Notre Dame (8 days and counting children!)

Chaz Hine, the veteran starting guard, has moved over to center and has been taking plenty of snaps, while Kevin McCaskill continues to take snaps at guard. Both players are move around and gives Holtz more options on the line. This also allows Danous Estenor and Jeremiah Warren to get snaps at guard as well with Hine moving to center. The Bulls had issues last year in their 2nd team offensive line and making sure players are versatile will be key late in the season. Quinterrius Eatmon and Mark Popek continue to work at tackle and it would seem those two spots are locked in, for now.

The Bulls also have shifted the linebackers around (V5 and Adkins noted this earlier). Sam Barrington has moved to strong side linebacker, allowing Michael Lanaris to move to middle linebacker, Lattimore remaining at weakside.

I tend to like this move. It gives the Bulls a very experienced linebacking group on the field. Barrington is a great tackler and can drop back into coverage, while Lanaris is a physical run stopper and having him in the middle is a great move. Jeuen, Cliett, Weatherspoon, and others will help provide the depth needed.

One final note, the Bulls are having a full scrimmage today, running about 100 plays as they prepare for ND. After the game, they will have Saturday off and then prepare for game week starting on Sunday. There are talks that a depth chart (we are all waiting for it) could be released (per the interwebs talk). It would make sense for the coaches to use the full scrimmage to evaluate the team one last time before putting the final depth chart together, but we are not sure yet if they will do this. Once more news comes from the scrimmage, we will have you covered.

Go Bulls.

USF Women's Soccer Takes on Indiana

The USF ladies take on Indiana tonight as they open the new soccer stadium, looking to bounce back after dropping the first game of the season.

The USF ladies finally get to open their home schedule after 3 games on the road (2 exhibition games that were rained out) and an ugly loss to UCF to start the season. The Bulls will be facing off against Big 10 opponent Indiana (game starts at 7:30 PM so everyone needs to get to the stadium) who is looking to continue their solid start to the 2011 season.

Indiana enters the night at (1-0-1) beating Butler last time out 6 to 1. The lady Hoosiers finished the 2010 season at 6-12-1 (2-8-0 in conference) and were 3-5-0 away from home, so not the greatest season. Despite a rough season, Indiana returns a solid corps of players that are very talented and will give the experienced Bulls team a run for their money.

Indiana has faced Evansville and Butler to open the season, so this is their first match of the year vs. a BCS conference opponent, so expect the competition to be tense. Let's take a look at what the Hoosiers bring to the field. [keep reading]

USF Offers 2013 Another Defensive End Prospect

Recruiting never takes a day off it seems.

As the college football season begins, so does the high school season and many top prospects on the Bulls short list are in action. We have seen the Bulls coaching staff looking down the road and recruiting players for the class of 2013 and a new prospect has been hearing from USF.

2013 defensive end prospect Derrick Calloway, 6-1 294-pounds (yikes, big kid) has already received a verbal offer from the Bulls.

The Manatee High School star (Brandenton, Florida) is a talented young man that can simply take over a game. The other night, Josh Newberg of 247sports, was at his game vs. Heritage High School and tweeted that Calloway was simply wearing down the Heritage offensive line. At 294-pounds, it is easy to see his size and strength and how a smaller high school tackle or guard would be easily overmatched (seems like the kid could line up and play in the college level with his size and weight).

USF is the first school to offer him and there will be plenty of other programs to follow suit very soon.

Pressuring Crist Will be Key Next Weekend for USF

Getting pressure on ND starting quarterback Dayne Crist will be key for the Bulls to come away with a victory next week.

Just a few days ago, the Irish named senior Dayne Crist the starting quarterback over sophomore Tommy Rees.

Crist, one of the most coveted recruits coming out of high school, has had a long and tough career while at ND. Dealing with constant pressure, coaching changes, expectations, and more recently, knee injuries, Crist seems poised for a big season, but USF will is there to stop it before it begins. Getting a pass rush on him will be just one big factor for the Bulls to come away with a victory [keep reading]