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SOUTH FLORIDA

Women's soccer

Bulls Tie Pitt, Await Possible Tourney Seed

PITTSBURGH , Pa. - The University of South Florida women's soccer team held Pittsburgh scoreless through 110 minutes Sunday afternoon to earn a 0-0 tie, and one point toward their quest to play in the BIG EAST Championship.

The Bulls now await results from other conference games, which control the fate of USF's chance to play in the tournament.

Both teams came out attacking Sunday in Pennsylvania , as each team took four shots in the first period. In the second stanza Pitt outshot USF, but the Bulls took two more attempts than the Panthers in the first overtime.

Against Pittsburgh , sophomore goalkeeper Mallori Lofton-Malachi made seven saves, the second-highest in a game this season. On Oct. 19, at Cincinnati , she stopped eight Bearcat shots.

"Mallori [Lofton-Malachi] played outstanding," said Coach Denise Schilte-Brown. "Today was probably her best game of the season. She showed tremendous leadership for the team."

Senior Autumn Browning attempted four shots in the final regular season game of the year, while sophomore Nina Jokuschies took two shots, both on goal. Junior Lindsay Brauer and freshman Camilla Aseng each had shots on goal as well.

If the Bulls qualify for postseason, the first round of the BIG EAST tournament will be held Nov. 1 at campus sites, as the fifth seed will play at the home of the fourth seed. Tournament quarterfinals will be held at campus sites on Sunday, Nov. 4. The final four teams will play the remainder of the championship in Morgantown , W.Va. Nov. 9 and 11. Semifinals will be at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9, and the finals at Dick Dlesk Stadium are at noon Eastern Sunday, Nov. 11.

Volleyball

USF Loses Close Match To Seton Hall

SOUTH ORANGE , N.J. - The University of South Florida volleyball team lost a close match to Seton Hall, 3-2 (26-30, 32-30, 30-28, 26-30, 15-10), on Sunday afternoon at Walsh Gymnasium.

With the loss the Bulls record stands at 15-7, 6-4 BIG EAST. Seton Hall record improves to 13-11, 4-7 BIG EAST.

Three USF players tallied double-doubles on the day. Senior Kristina Fabris netted 12 kills and tallied a new personal best 26 digs. Sophomore Marcela Gurgel paced the way for the offense with 26 kills and added 12 digs, while freshman setter Mariana Thon posted her second-career double-double with 59 assists and 13 digs.

The Bulls struggled on the offensive side and could not put together a consistent attack, getting out-hit .234 to .208. The Bulls were strong on the defensive side of the ball, tallying more digs (88 to 81) and blocks (15.0 to 7.0) to the Pirates, the solid effort could not carry the team.

The first game was close form the start and featured 11 tie scores and six lead changes. With the score knotted 19-19, the Bulls broke ahead by going on a 5-1 run for a 24-20 lead. USF maintained the advantage the rest of the way and won the first set, 30-26. Even though the Bulls out-hit the Pirates .278 to .132, USF's defense at the net proved to be key, out-blocking SHU 7.0 to 1.0.

Seton Hall opened up game two strong, going on an 8-1 run. Despite the Pirates maintaining their advantage most of the way, the Bull slowly chipped into the lead and eventually cut it down to two points, 19-17. SHU quickly scored two points to regain the advantage, but the Bulls countered by going on a 6-1 run to lead by one, 23-22. Both teams battled each other closely the remainder of the way, with the score knotted on eight occasions. After Seton Hall had two chances to score the game point and couldn't do so, the Pirates closed out for the win on the third chance, 32-20.

With USF trailing 4-3, the Bulls scored four unanswered points for a 7-4 lead. With the score 14-10 in USF's favor, the Pirates went on a 5-1 run to tie the score, 15-15. After both teams traded points, SHU used an 11-4 run to jump ahead, 27-21. The Bulls countered by scoring six unanswered points to tie the score, 27-27, but the Pirates closed out with a 3-1 run for the 30-28 victory.

With the Bulls needing to win game four to stay alive, USF opened up with the lead and stayed ahead most of the way. With the Bulls leading 18-15, SHU went on a 6-2 run to take its first lead, 21-20. After both teams traded points, USF regained the lead, 26-24. After the Pirates scored a quick point, the Bulls went on a 4-1 run to get the win, 30-26.

Both teams fought hard from the start of the fifth and deciding game. After SHU took the early lead, 7-3, the Bulls answered by going on a 5-1 run to knot the score, 8-8. Both teams traded points and then the Pirates eventually jumped ahead by three, 12-9. USF countered by scoring a point, but it could not come any closer as Seton Hall went on to win, 15-10.

USF will look to get back on the winning track when it travels to DePaul and Notre Dame next weekend.

Men's golf

HITCHCOCK TIES FOR 12TH

TAMPA - The University of South Florida men's golf team concluded their fall season in Orlando, Fla. at the BIG EAST/MAC Challenge, with a seventh place finish. The Bulls carded a three round total of 901. Host school Marquette outdistanced 10 other teams to capture the tournament title with a score of 866.

The top finisher for USF was senior Tyler Hitchcock. Hitchcock finished with a cumulative score of 223 and tied for 12th. The highlight of Hitchcock's tournament was his even-par-72 for round two.

Senior Jason Elliot wrapped up the tournament with a 224, highlighted by a one-over-par 73 in the final round. Elliot finished tied for 19th out of 55 participants.

Junior Jakob McKinley tied for 27th with a score of 227. Freshman Robby Carl finished one stroke behind McKinley. Carl scored a 228 and ended the tournament in a tie for 29th.

Sophomore Raj Nahal tied for 32nd with a score of 229.

"The tournament did not go very well," said head coach Jim Fee. "We were in a good position going into today and we made mistakes that cost a lot of strokes. We knew we needed to make birdies in this tournament. For the first 32 holes we did that; but then we made several mistakes which counteracted our hard work from yesterday."

"The team knows we have a lot to improve. They're ready to continue practicing to make our spring season much more productive. Next semester we'll continue to play a tough schedule. The first three tournaments that we'll play are all in Florida. We're looking forward to being prepared for those."

The Bulls kick off their spring season at the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., Feb. 9-10.

FLORIDA STATE

Women's soccer

FSU, Duke Tie 1-1 In Durham

Junior Mami Yamaguchi ties the single-season record for points with an assist.

Durham, N.C. - No. 14 Florida State (10-4-3, 5-2-2) wrapped up its North Carolina road trip with a 1-1 tie against No. 28 Duke (7-3-6, 2-2-4) Sunday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium. Freshman Amanda DaCosta registered the only Seminole goal, while goalkeeper Erin McNulty made a career-high eight saves in the draw. Mami Yamaguchi was credited with an assist on DaCosta's goal as she tied Cindy Schofield for the single-season school record in points with 42 (17 goals, eight assists).

"This was another tough ACC road game," said head coach Mark Krikorian. "I was happy that we were able to come away with a point this afternoon. We certainly had some pretty good chances through the run of play that if we were a little more precise around the penalty box, we may have scored a few more goals. But these road trips are tough, especially after our game against Wake Forest on Thursday night. I thought we showed some character today to get a good result on the road."

DaCosta concluded a fantastic weekend tallying five points on two goals and one assist. The assist by Yamaguchi was her team leading eighth of the season. The tie gives Florida State

After a scoreless first half, Florida State countered with the first goal of the game by DaCosta in the 62nd minute. The Seminoles were 10 minutes away from securing their first ever victory at Duke, but Elisabeth Redmond ruined those plans with the game-tying goal in the 81st minute.

The Blue Devils outshot the Seminoles 25-14 for the game, while maintaining a 9-7 corner kick advantage.

Duke had the first great scoring opportunity of the game but freshman goalkeeper Erin McNulty made a two great saves to keep the Blue Devils off the scoreboard. Off Duke's first corner kick of the game, Christie McDonald placed a header on goal but McNulty made a diving save to her right. The loose ball found its way to Kendall Bradley in the middle of the box who had a wide open shot on goal, but McNulty was able to get back to her feet in time for the save.

The Seminoles lone scoring chance came early in the first half off a corner kick by Mami Yamaguchi. The kick was headed out of the box by the Blue Devil defense and back to Yamaguchi. The Tokyo, Japan native made a quick pass to Erika Sutton, who one-timed a shot to the right side of the goal but Duke's Allison Lipsher was there for the save.

Both teams played to a scoreless tie through the first 45 minutes of play as the Blue Devils outshot the Seminoles 10-3. Sutton led Florida State with two shots, while Annie Stalzer got off a shot in the closing seconds of the half.

The second half began much the same as the first with Duke getting the first scoring chance. Kelly Hathorn dribbled down the left side of the pitch where she found CJ Ludemann. Ludemann got a shot off on goal but McNulty was there for her fourth save of the game.

Florida State cracked the scoreboard with the game's first goal in the 62nd minute on the Seminoles first shot of the half. Yamaguchi found DaCosta with a through ball down the middle of the field. The freshman midfielder took a quick dribble, and with Lipsher coming out of the net to breakup the play, DaCosta slipped the ball under the diving goalkeeper and scored on an empty netter for her second goal in as many games and fourth of the season

"Amanda's mobility is a great strength for us," explained Krikorian. "She does a great job of finding seems in odd places and of course Mami has fantastic vision and does a fine job of making that final pass."

In the 71st minute, Florida State caught a break as Duke's Rebecca Allen ripped a shot from 20 yards that went right through the hands of McNulty, but the freshman keeper quickly pounced on the rebound to keep the Seminole lead at one.

The Seminoles missed on a golden opportunity in the 76th minute as Rachel Lim took a shot from 12 yards out that went just high over the crossbar.

Duke would tie the game in the 81st minute on a goal by Redmond. Redmond fired a cross from the left side of the box into the upper right corner for her sixth goal of the season. Meaghan FitzGerald was credited with an assist on the play.

Both teams had one more scoring opportunity with less than two minutes in the second half. Hathorn's shot bounced off the left post and out of bounce, while Lipsher made a diving save on a shot by Yamaguchi. DaCosta made a long dribble down the middle of the field beating a couple Duke defenders before the Katonah, N.Y. native made a nice pass to Yamaguchi. But Yamaguchi's shot was saved sending the game into overtime.

The Seminoles got the first good look in extra frames as DaCosta took a nice pass from Sutton and dribbled the length of the field. DaCosta weaved to the inside and back to her right, one-timing a shot toward the right side of the net. But once again Lipsher was there with the save.

Duke was able to get two good looks before the end of the first overtime period as Hathorn's header was saved by McNulty, while Allen's shot went high over the crossbar. The save was McNulty's eighth of the game establishing a career-high for the Winnipeg, Manitoba native.

"Erin was great; she turned in a very solid performance," added Krikorian. "She did a great job of handling everything that came her way today."

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in either overtime session as the game finished in a 1-1 tie.

Florida State wraps up the regular season schedule on Thursday, November 1 as the Seminoles travel to face Clemson at 7:00 pm. As always, fans can follow all the action over the Internet as gametracker will be available for the event.

FLORIDA

Volleyball

McGinnis' Double-Double Propels No. 10 VB To Sweep Of Mississippi

GAINESVILLE - Senior setter Angie McGinnis (Fraser, Mich.) posted her fourth double-double of the season on Sunday, finishing with 36 assists and 12 digs, to lead the 10th-ranked University of Florida volleyball team to a 3-0 (30-24, 30-23, 30-19) win over Mississippi at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. McGinnis spread the ball around to five Gators who had at least five kills on the day, led by 10 from freshman outside hitter Callie Rivers (Winter Park). Senior middle blocker Kisya Killingsworth (Deltona) came up with nine kills on the day, while McGinnis, senior outside hitter Marcie Hampton (Gainesville, Fla.) and senior opposite hitter Amber McCray (Longview, Texas) each had six.

"When you see a 3-0 win for the Gators today, it doesn't tell the true story of the match," Florida head coach Mary Wise said. "The way both teams played in the back row made for some really fun volleyball. We were able to score from a lot of different positions today, which is something that will certainly help us down the road."

Florida's defense was also active on Sunday, posting a three-game season high 14.0 total blocks and out-digging the Rebels, 63-47. Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.) finished with 13 digs to break her own school record with her 25th-consecutive match in double figures. Killingsworth claimed team-high honors with seven total blocks, while McGinnis chipped in with six and McCray and junior middle blocker Kelsey Bowers (Gainesville) each had four. McGinnis' 12 digs moved her past Kris Bova for the second-most digs by a setter in school history.

The Gators found themselves facing an 8-4 deficit early in the opening game, but battled back to tie the score at 11-11 with a 7-3 run that was fueled by a block solo and a kill by Rivers. UF took its first lead of the afternoon at 15-14 courtesy of a Rivers kill, a play that sparked a 3-0 Florida run to force a Mississippi timeout with the count resting at 17-14 in favor of the hosts. The Rebels took the first two points after the break to cut the lead to one, but Rivers and McGinnis responded with kills on consecutive rallies to push the Gators' edge to 20-16. UF extended its margin to 23-18 on the strength of kills by Bowers and Killingsworth before UM called its second timeout of the frame. Rivers' sixth kill of the opener forced game point for the Gators at 29-23, and McGinnis finished off the first game two rallies later with a kill of her own to give UF game one, 30-24. Florida registered 5.0 blocks as a team in the first stanza, led by three from Bowers, to hold Mississippi to .195 hitting.

Back-to-back kills by Rivers helped UF draw even at 3-3 early in game two, and the Gators battled until a Killingsworth kill gave them their first lead of the game at 9-8. Florida took a 12-9 lead when Bowers and McCray combined on a block assist, but the Rebels fought back to tie the match at 15-15. Killingsworth helped put the Gators up by a score of 20-17 with a pair of kills and a block assist with Hampton, forcing the Rebels to call their first timeout of the frame. A kill by sophomore middle blocker Kristina Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) and an ace by freshman defensive specialist Erin Fleming (Orlando) on consecutive rallies extended UF's lead to 25-21, and Florida took five of the last seven points of the game, culminating on an ace from Cusack, en route to capturing a 30-23 win. Hampton, Johnson, Killingsworth and Rivers each had three kills in the frame, as McGinnis spread the ball around to the tune of 13 assists.

UF got early kills from McGinnis and Hampton in game three, but the Gators faced 6-4 deficit at the outset of the frame. Hampton tied the game at 7-7 at the end of a scrambling rally with a kill of the Mississippi block, and Florida took its first lead of the game at 12-11 on a Killingsworth solo block. Rivers' second block solo of the afternoon came four rallies later and jump started a 3-0 UF run that put the Gators on top by a score of 16-13 and forced Mississippi to burn its first timeout of the game. Rivers, McGinnis and Johnson each fired home kills after break to run the lead to 19-15, and Florida's advantage was five points, 22-17, when the Rebels asked for their final timeout of the game. Back-to-back block assists by Killingsworth and McGinnis increased the margin to 24-17, and the Gators chalked up four blocks down the stretch to cap the match with a 30-19 win. Killingsworth was active in game three, helping UF clinch the deciding frame with a three kills and five total blocks.

The Gators' next match will take them to Columbia, S.C., on Wednesday night for a showdown with travel partner South Carolina. The action is slated to commence at 7 p.m., and radio coverage can be found on WRUF-AM 850.

Women's soccer

KeLeigh Hudson Turns in Hat-Trick as No. 23 Florida Soccer Defeats LSU

5-0

GAINESVILLE - Three goals from senior KeLeigh Hudson led the No. T-23 University of Florida soccer team (11-4-2, 7-2 SEC) to a 5-0 win over Southeastern Conference Western Division leader LSU (10-3-6, 4-2-4 SEC) Sunday afternoon in front of a James G. Pressly crowd of 967.

Florida finishes October with wins in each of its seven matches with six coming by shutout. "I think today was just a terrific game in terms of a team effort. There was some unselfish play that led to some great goals and we got contributions from everyone on the bench," UF Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. "You can't ask for more than that. This was a terrific team performance all the way around - one of the best games we've played all season."

Florida scored early in the match, taking advantage of numbers in the box. Stacy Bishop crossed the ball into the center of the box where Ameera Abdullah sent the ball on to KeLeigh Hudson at the far post. She placed her shot from 10 yards into the upper slot of the goal at 4:18. "Bishop had the ball and got it across. I called leave for Ameera," Hudson said. "I was able to get a touch on it before I shot it but my shot was kind of out there so I had to slide to get a shot on goal."

Later in the half, KeLeigh Hudson was again involved in the Gator scoring, this time delivering the corner kick that Ashlee Elliott headed into the upper corner of the near post. The goal was her second of the season and first since opening UF's scoring versus USF on Sept. 7. It was the second score off a corner kick for the Gators in the last four matches. Sunday's score by Elliott was predicted pre-match by Burleigh.

"A few hours before the game, Becky (Burleigh) told me I was going to get a header. I didn't know how it was going to come, but in practice, I've been going front post all the time. So I thought 'Let me go try this,'" Elliott said. "KeLeigh gave a beautiful ball and I got my big head on it." KeLeigh Hudson added two goals within a minute and a half of the second half for her first collegiate hat-trick and the first for the Gators this season. The first goal of the second half started when Shana Hudson brought the ball down the right side and sent it to Elliott in the box. She turned and touched the ball to KeLeigh Hudson on the left side of the box, who placed the ball in the far post corner from five yards at 62:39. She earned the hat-trick at 64:11, when Abdullah crossed the ball in the box. Bishop let the ball go by her in the middle of the box where it ended up with KeLeigh Hudson. She placed the 12-yard shot in the upper slot to move her into a tie for first with teammate Ashley Harris with seven Gator goals each in 2007.

"On the second goal, I saw Elliott with that turn and that the defender came cheating over on her. So I slid in to the right of the defender and put it in," Hudson said. "(On the final goal) I asked Bishop to leave it. I took a touch and finished it back post." The three goals was the first by a Gator player since Bishop turned in three versus Jacksonville on Sept. 10, 2006. "It's a great feeling. I can't remember my last one - probably in high school sometime. I can't even remember back that far it's been so long," Hudson said. "I was just trying to get the goals for the team - it wasn't about getting a hat trick. It was just getting goals so we can get the final result."

Florida's fifth goal started when the Gators were awarded a free kick 35 yards above the LSU goal. Lauren Hyde sent the ball in, but LSU's goalkeeper Jackie Moseley, who just entered the match at 71:23, couldn't control the ball. Daniela Sanchez took advantage of the opportunity to place the three-yard shot in at 72:08 for her first goal of the season. "Lauren kicked a great ball, which she always does. I just followed it. The goalkeeper bobbled it and I just saw the open goal and kicked it in," Sanchez said. "It was a great ball from Lauren, which pretty much set it up."

Next up, the Gators play host to South Carolina (13-4-2, 5-3-2 SEC) on Friday, Nov. 2. The Gamecocks defeated Arkansas 1-0 in their regular-season home finale on Sunday. Due to Gator Growl, match time for the UF-USC match is a bit earlier than a normal Friday time, with start time set for 6 p.m. at Pressly Stadium. Match statistics plus streaming audio and video of the UF-USC match can be found on www.GatorZone.com.

Women's golf

Women's Golf Vaults to Third as Yadloczky Ties School Record

Tuscaloosa, Ala. - True freshman Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) burned up the scorecard as she tied the single-round school record and registered a career-low score with seven birdies to lead a final-round charge for the fifth-ranked Florida women's golf team at the Ann Rhoads Intercollegiate Sunday. The Lady Gators tallied a 5-over par 289, the best team score recorded in 54 rounds between the 18 teams at the Northriver Golf Course.

The Lady Gators started the day tied in eighth-place after moving up from a 10th-place tie in first-round action Friday. Florida separated itself from a third-place tie with Louisville on the final hole as Jenny Calkins bogeyed to drop the Cardinals one shot. Florida dropped 11 strokes off from its second-round score and the four scores that counted towards the team total had no double bogeys on the scorecard.

"I'm really proud of the team today," head coach Jill Briles-Hinton said. "This is a course that you need to see at least once or twice and it's a very challenging golf course because you have to hit the ball in the right spot or you'll run into trouble. There are undulating greens all over and we just had a fantastic round. Sandra (Gal) and Whitney (Myers) added in a couple more good rounds." Yadloczky totaled a 4-under par 67 in her final round to set a career record and tie the UF single-round record since seventh time since 1982 and marked the second time this season when Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.) shot a 67 in the second round at the Wildcat Fall Invitational. Yadloczky mastered the two holes she double-bogeyed on Saturday, parlaying those holes into a six-stroke swing in her favor with birdies on holes six and 11.

"I just went out thinking fairways and greens because I hadn't been putting really well during the week so I just focused on eliminating three-putts and I felt like I couldn't miss anything inside of 20-feet," Yadloczky said. "In our practice round, it was bad weather, 50 degrees with no sun and raining all day, so it's hard to expect results when the conditions are like that. We went out to take good notes and make adjustments for the rest of the tournament." Yadloczky started out the day with three birdies in her first four holes. She finished the day as the best player among the 18 teams in the final round, her 4-under effort two strokes better than individual champion Stacy Lewis' 69. She finished tied for seventh, her second top-10 finish in just four events this year, after starting Sunday tied for 42nd.

It was also the third tournament out of four events for the freshman where she dropped strokes from her previous total in every round. Her previous low-round score was a 70 at the season-opening Mason Rudolph Women's Championship. "I kept learning more and more where I needed to put the ball and figuring out the hilly terrain and realized that it takes a couple of days to learn a course," Yadloczky said. "I think we all played really well considering what our practice round was like." Senior and two-time All-American Sandra Gal (Leichlingen, Germany) tied with Yadloczky in the overall standings for seventh and was consistent, offsetting two bogeys in her first three holes with two birdies and 14 pars to finish even on the day with a 71.

Myers also provided stability with a 3-over par 74, chalking up her third-consecutive top-15 placing by finishing in a tie for 13th. Senior Tiffany Chudy (Mirmar, Fla.) put together a 6-over par 77 in her final round and redshirt junior Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France) chipped in an 8-ove par 79. Chudy and Jouven placed in ties for 50th and 54th, respectively.

Redshirt sophomore Brittany Nelson (Ponte Vedra Beach) equaled her first-round total with a 79 as she completed heryear competing as an individual. UF completes its fall schedule next week when it heads to Orlando for the Hooters Match Play Championships at the Ginn Reunion Resort Nov.4-6.

[Last modified October 28, 2007, 23:41:47]