COACH’S CORNER
“It was nice to see some of our young players come in and execute off the bench,” said Head Coach Benavia Jenkins. “Milena Lopez and Azavia Thomas both received extended playing time and provided that necessary spark for us. They showed great confidence and battled throughout the match. South Florida is a great team, and we showed fight against them. We went with a 6-2 to try new things. We knew we had to serve them more aggressively this time and that allowed us to better compete.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Following a tough loss to East Carolina, Charlotte came out flat in the first set offensively, hitting just .033 as a team with seven attacking errors. Maria Clara Andrade led the way for the Bulls with five kills while Iyanna Garvin assisted on all five South Florida blocks, as USF cruised to a 25-15 first set win.
Set two saw nine ties and five lead changes in a more competitive set between the two teams. With the 6-2 formation, Milena Lopez saw her most playing time of the season this afternoon, dishing out 18 assists with five of them coming in the second set. Jessica Ricks tallied a team high four kills in the set to keep Charlotte within striking distance at 21-20. The Bulls were able to regroup, ending the set with four straight kills to win 25-21, going up two sets to none.
Charlotte’s offense improved dramatically in the third set, finishing with their best percentage of .364 for the match. Jaylen Jordan provided an all-around effort with four kills and six digs to lead the Niners in both categories. In the late stages, Charlotte led 19-14 over South Florida prompting a timeout. The Bulls answered back with a 6-2 scoring run to close the deficit to 21-20. Four different Niners in Thomas, Ricks, Christian Birminghamand Sofia Locadiaall picked up kills to propel Charlotte to win 25-21.
In the match, South Florida out blocked Charlotte 14 to five in the match headlined by Garvin’s seven block assists and Imani Hartfield’s solo block and five block assists. Hartfield picked up three of her block assists in the fourth set. However, Charlotte continued to fight and show resilience. Nearing the media timeout, the Niners had a 14-11 advantage over the Bulls until USF got back-to-back kills from Andrade, who finished the set with five. That momentum capped off an 8-2 run to give South Florida the lead 19-16.
Three kills from Birmingham and a solo block helped get Charlotte to within one point at 22-21. Another kill from Andrade and attacking errors from Ricks and Jordan clinched the match win for South Florida, 25 to 21.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Annika Thompsonwho was named to the American Conference Honorable Mention List last week after leading the conference with 5.29 digs per set over the weekend, tied for the team lead with Jaylen Jordan totaling 14 digs. This season, Thompson is fourth in the NCAA, averaging 5.26 digs per set.
Azavia Thomas set a career high with 11 kills on an efficient .348 hitting percentage. Jessica Ricks and Kisten Birmingham also finished with double digit kills, tallying 10 each.
NEXT UP
Charlotte will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Temple Owls on Friday (Oct. 31) before returning to Halton Arena on Sunday (Nov. 2) to host Rice, who is tied with South Florida for first place in the American.
