Photo by Kendall Bulkiewicz | The Crow’s Nest
By Kendall Bulkiewicz
The historic season came to an end as the USF volleyball team dominated University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Sunday morning with a 3-0 sweep, earning the team its first American Athletic Conference regular season championship in 22 years.
This joyful win sent both the players on the court and the supporters in the stands into a celebration. However, Sunday was more than just the game.
Before the match, senior setter Caroline Dykes was recognized in a special pre-match ceremony for her career milestone of 4,000 career assists. She was given a ceremonial volleyball to commemorate the feat in what has been a key factor in the resurgence of the Bulls this season.
With the match underway outside hitter, Maria Clara Andrade, led the attack with 18 kills while adding eight digs and three aces. Middle Blocker, Tizi Puljiz continued with her stellar shows, with 42 assists to add six digs to round out the balanced and dynamic offensive performance. Defensively, libero Lia Schneider anchored the back row with 15 digs.
The win also marked a milestone for head coach Jolene Shepardson, who played on the last USF team to take a conference title 22 years ago.
“Oh, my heart is just so full,” said Shepardson after the emotional journey. “It’s incredible, but it feels very good; we know we’ve got a lot more to do.”
She poured praise on the leadership and dedication of her veteran players, most of whom have been around since the rebuilding years of the program such as Puljiz , Andrade, and Dykes.
“The maturity is wonderful, not just on the court but in their personalities. It was really special for them to stick around and go through the hard to build it together,” Shepardson said.
Sunday’s win marked a strong close to the regular season for USF, with back-to-back sweeps .
“Their execution on the court is getting pretty clean,” Shepardson said. “As coaches, we see things we’ve been working on come forward. It’s gorgeous to see that masterpiece come out.”
The Bulls prepare to make their way to Kansas this week for the AAC tournament as regular season champions for the first time since 2002.
They will start competing Friday, Nov. 22 at 6 p.m. in Wichita against UAB once more in a high-stakes rematch.
