Results from Big East Week 5 Picks

Another week, another slate of rough games in the Big East. There were a few surprises this weekend as conference play continues to heat up. Let's see how we did with our picks.

USF Volleyball Drops Game to Seton Hall

USF volleyball lost a tough match this afternoon, losing 3 sets to 1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-21) and slip to 6-10 (2-2) on the season as they fall to Seton Hall.

The lady Bulls were able to hang tough during the match, but couldn't come through late. J'beria Davis has 15 kills and 1 dig on the afternoon. Kayla Walton had 9 kills and 2 digs. Valerie El Houssine had 12 kills, 2 service aces, and 9 digs as she continues her impressive freshman season.

Andrea Rodriguez Gomez had 8 kills and 4 digs. Shelbie Dailey had 1 kill along with 42 assists (led team) and 4 digs. Janice Rivera had 2 service aces and a team high 18 digs.

The Bulls will try to get back to winning when they host UCONN on Friday night. The Bulls will need to defend their home court more if they want to stay in the Big East race and get back to .500.

USF Ladies Falls to Louisville

USF went to overtime again today. (Picture: www.gousfbulls.com)

Overtime has become a way of life for the USF ladies and once again, they went to overtime. USF dropped the overtime game today,falling in the first overtime period to Louisville.

USF got out to a quick start in the 4th minute when Demi Stokes got a pass through to Taylor Patterson who put USF on top, but Louisville would answer back just a few minutes later. The game would be quiet until the first overtime period when five minutes into the first period, the Cardinals were able to send USF to 5-4-4 (1-2-3) record on the season, giving them a tough loss in their 7th straight overtime game.

At 5-4-4 on the season, USF is struggling to finish off games. The offense has struggled at times and the defense has allowed goals late in matches to keep the Bulls off the win column. The ladies will try to get a big win on the road Friday night as they take on UCONN.

Latest on Big East Conference Meeting

So what happens now?

Today was a very important day for the Big East as school presidents met to discuss the future of the conference as Pitt and Syracuse pack their bags for the ACC.

According to media sources near the situation, it was reported that Big East Presidents voted "unanimously" to allow authorization for Big East Commissioner, John Marinatto, to aggressively pursue discussions with other programs. They also voted to strength the conference by-laws, although outlines for how they would do this were not stated. (Statements thanks to VU Hoops).

So what does this all mean? Not much to start with. It would seem the last remaining Big East members are looking to keep the football side of the ship afloat for now and are allowing Marinatto to start talking to other teams. Teams like Air Force, Navy, ECU, among others have all been mentioned in rumors to keep the Big East as a football conference alive.

They also want to strength the conference by-laws. This would probably mean raising the exit fee for the conference to keep other teams like UCONN, from jumping ship and sinking the conference even further.

So there were a few statements after the meeting, but not much else. The fate of the Big East and USF (with the other teams as well) is still up in the air. A lot of work (fingers crossed) will still have to be done to keep it together.

USF Women's Soccer Takes on Louisville

After another double overtime tie (6th straight overtime game for the ladies) USF, 5-3-4 (1-1-3) hit the road to take on the Louisville Cardinals, hoping to get a win and in regulation.

Louisville is 4-5-3 (2-1-2) and just 0-4-1 at home this season, so the home turf of the Cardinals has not helped them all year and USF needs to keep this trend going to come away with a big win to get them back in the top standings in the Big East.

USF Volleyball Takes on Seteon Hall

The USF ladies, 6-9 (2-1), after their game against Rutgers, welcome Seton Hall to USF as they continue the Big East portion of their schedule (game starts at 1PM).

Seton Hall enters the match at 11-6 (2-0) on the season. They have a young team that is playing at a very high level right now and will give the Bulls a tough fight in the match-up.

Senior outside-hitter Meghan Matusiak (6-0) leads the way with 211 kills, 17 service aces, and 137 digs on the season. Freshman outside-hitter Stacey Manthorpe (6-0) has 157 kills, 7 service aces, and 103 digs. Fellow freshman and sister Shelbey Manthorpe (6-0 setter) has 109 kills, 518 sets, and 165 digs on the season (strong corps of freshman here to deal with). Junior outside-hitter Hannah Hugeback (6-0) (um, yeah) has 106 kills and 100 digs. Sophomore Alyssa Warren (5-9) has 21 service aces and 344 digs.

This is another big chance for USF to get closer to .500 on the season, make a move in the Big East standings, and protect their home floor. They are playing at a high level right now after beating Rutgers yesterday, so they need to come out in this match and get another big win. e Bulls will next play against UCONN on Saturday here at USF at 7PM.

USF Men's Soccer Ties Providence

The USF Bulls battled a tough game with the Friars, totaling 45 fouls and a pair of yellow cards as USF's record goes to 5-2-2 (1-0-1) on the season.

Leston Paul put USF up on top in the first half with a goal, but the Friars were able to draw even with the Bulls in the second half. Physical play dominated the game as both teams went through the overtime period without getting close to the goal.

Dom Dwyer took 3 shots, but couldn't come up with another goal (what is wrong with him, no goal for a game). Christ Blais made 4 saves on the night to help tie the game for the Bulls.

USF will face Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday as they try to get another win before returning to conference play when they take on St. John's.

USF Volleyball Sweeps Rutgers

Valerie El Houssine continues to play at a high level for the Bulls in her freshman season. (Picture: www.gousfbulls.com)

The USF ladies came out firing as they swept Big East foe Rutgers today to improve to 6-9 (2-1) on the season. USF was in control of the entire game and freshman Valerie El Houssine led the way as she continues her impressive freshman campaign.

She finished the match with 5 service aces, 11 kills, and 9 digs, doing a little bit of everything for coach Claire Lessinger. Kayla Walton had 11 kills as well. Shelbie Dailey had 27 assists as well as the Bulls took care of business and never let Rutgers get into this match.

This is a game USF should and needed to win to get their homestand off to a good start. Lessinger is very impressed by El Houssine and her incredible play this season. The Bulls will take on Seton Hall tomorrow, hoping for a repeat performance today.

USF Ladies Tie Cincinnati, in Overtime

Another day, another tie and overtime game.

Last night the USF ladies should themselves in a very familiar situation, overtime. It was their 6th straight overtime game as the Bulls were able to end the match with the Bearcats in a draw.

Noelle Pineiro put USF ahead in the lead in the second period (52nd minute) but gave up the tying goal to Cincinnati. The Bulls battled, taking a ton of shots. Stokes took 4 shots and Klotz took 3 shots, but neither defense would give in and allow any goals.

The Bulls are now 5-3-4 (1-1-3) on the season, not the best position, but have been battling hard and are due to break through and get a big win. The Bulls now travel to face Louisville to take on the Cardinals tomorrow afternoon at 1PM. This will be another big test for the Bulls as they take on another tough road match.

USF Men's Soccer Takes on Providence

Coming off of a big win on the road against West Virginia, USF, 5-2-1 (1-0) returns home to take on Big East foe Providence on Saturday at 7:30 PM.

Providence comes into the game with a record of 6-2 on the season, including 1-0 on the Big East schedule, so both are top teams in the conference looking for a huge win here.

Providence is led by sophomore midfielder Wilder Arboleda (6-0 175-pounds). He leads the Friars with 3 goals on the season. Junior forward Keith Jecewiz (6-0 180-pounds) has 2 goals on the season as well (not the highest scoring team in the world).

Freshman midfielder Marcos Ugarte (5-7 140-pounds) has 2 goals on the season as well. Freshman midfielder Jimmy Petruccelli (5-6 150-pounds) has 3 assists on the season (getting the ball to all the strikers). Senior defender David Datilus (6-0 175-pounds) has 2 assists on the season and has taken 4 shots.

Senior goal keeper Jhojan Obando (5-11 170-pounds) has allowed just 6 goals all season long (.75 goals per game) so expect a very low scoring game here. He has made 23 saves, stopping .793 percent of shots on the goal, and has 5 shut out wins on the season.