2012-13 Great Games
6/13/2013 8:00:00 AM | General
VIDEO: Highlights from the 2012-13 Hilltop Awards
Whether it was women's cross country winning a fourth straight WCC championship, the women's volleyball team sweeping its season series against California, buzzer beaters in basketball or the baseball team's dramatic win over San Diego at the WCC Championships – all 15 of USF's athletic teams enjoyed defining moments and outstanding performances during the 2012-13 athletic season on the Hilltop.
Here is a look back on some of the top team performances from this past season:
Fall
Men's Cross Country
USF Wins Bronco Invitational
Behind Jose Madera's record-setting performance, USF edged UC Davis to claim the team title at Santa Clara's Bronco Invitational on Oct. 13. Madera covered the 8k course in a school-record time of 24:06.4 to finish fifth overall. Steven Garboden (12th; 24:22.11) and Ganbileg Bor (17th; 24:28.014) also finished inside the Top 20.
Women's Cross Country
Four-Peat in Portland
Behind the strength of five runners that finished inside the top 10, USF claimed its fourth straight West Coast Conference Championship on Oct. 27 at Fernhill Park in Portland. Eva Krchova outdueled teammate Elena Burkard down the stretch to win the individual title with a time of 20:35 while Alice Baker (6th; 20:40), Laura Suur (7th; 20:43) and Chloe Trelevan (10th; 20:53) counted toward USF's team score with their top-10 finishes. USF's 25 team points was the best winning score since 2003 when Portland claimed the title with 23 points. For her performance, Krchova was named the WCC Cross Country Player of the Year, Burkard was named the conference's freshman of the year while Helen Lehman-Winters was named the WCC's Coach of the Year for a fifth time.
Men's Soccer
Jimison's Overtime Goal Earns Visser 100th Coaching Victory
Brady Jimison's first career goal couldn't have come at a better time. The Dons junior forward struck golf three minutes into the first overtime period to give USF a dramatic, 2-1 victory over Saint Mary's on Oct. 5. The win also marked Erik Visser's 100th career coaching victory on the Hilltop.
Women's Soccer
Dons Post Historic Tie Against Santa Clara on Senior Night
USF used a second-half rally and stout defense to push the No. 17 Santa Clara Broncos to a 2-2 tie at Negoesco Stadium on October 26. The tie marked the first time in nearly 30 meetings between the two Bay Area squads that USF has taken points from the Broncos.
Women's Volleyball
Dons First-Ever Win Over Cal Makes for a Historic Night
Behind 16 kills from Jocelyn Levig and Ester de Vries, USF downs 25th-ranked California in sets at the Hawaiian Airlines Classic in Honolulu. It was the Dons first-ever win over the Golden Bears and also was the 77th victory for Gilad Doron on the Hilltop, earning him the distinction of becoming the all-time winningest coach in USF history. Two weeks later, USF defeated Cal in three sets before a crowd of 1,112 in Memorial Gymnasium behind Levig's 20 kills and Rebecca Kopilovitch's 17 digs.
Winter
Men's Basketball
Dons Runaway From St. John's
With members of the 1949 NIT and 1955-56 NCAA Championship teams watching from courtside, USF turned in one of its most complete efforts of the season to defeat visiting St. John's, 81-65 before a raucous crowd Memorial Gymnasium. De'End Parker scored a team-high 21 points while Cody Doolin finished with 18 points and a career-high 14 assists as the Dons won their fifth straight game after a season-opening loss to Stanford.
Raining Threes in Provo
USF nailed 14 three-pointers en route to a 99-87 victory over BYU on Feb. 9 in Provo, Utah. The Dons shot 72 percent from the floor in the second half and made 9-of-10 of their three-point tries to rally from a 15-point deficit to post their first-ever win over the Cougars in Provo. USF ended the game shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and scored 60 points in the second half alone. De'End Parker led all USF scorers with 23 points while Chris Adams and Avry Holmes each added 17. Cody Doolin finished with 16 points and a game-high eight assists while Cole Dickerson posted his eighth double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 rebounds. “It was the biggest road win we've had since I've been here,” said head coach Rex Walters following the game. “It's hard to quiet this crowd and we did it tonight.”
Buzzer Beater – Part One
Cole Dickerson's three-pointer from the left wing with 0.01 remaining gave USF a 75-72 victory over Portland on Jan. 24 at the Chiles Center. Dickerson's three gave the Dons their only lead of the second half and completed a furious second half comeback that saw USF rally from an 11-point second half deficit to post its second straight conference victory. Cody Doolin tied the game with a straight away three-pointer with 1:02 left and following a Portland miss, the Dons got the ball back with a chance to take the last shot. With time winding down, Doolin found Dickerson on the left wing and the Dons escaped Portland with their second conference victory of the season.
Buzzer Beater – Part Two
After squandering a 20-point lead in its game at Loyola Marymount on Feb. 21, Cody Doolin's driving layup with 0.05 remaining lifted USF to a 61-59 victory over the Lions at Gersten Pavilion. A three-pointer by Dickerson tied the game at 59 with 1:00 remaining and following a crucial stop on the defensive end of the floor, the Dons got the ball back with 20 ticks remaining. Doolin had the ball between the circles on the left side and with time winding down, drove hard and beat Anthony Ireland on the right side and laid the ball off the glass for the game winner.
Women's Basketball
Magnificent Seven Set the Stage in Vegas
Playing with just seven available players, USF throttled Pepperdine, 80-48 in the first round of the WCC Championships in Las Vegas on March 6. Five players reached double figures in the scoring column for the first time of the season, led by senior Mel Khlok, who finished with a game-high 19 points, thanks in part to a school record 13-for-13 showing at the free throw line line. Bailey Barbour and Alicia Scafidi both posted double-doubles and Las Vegas native Zhane Dikes and Taj Winston added 16 points each to give the Dons their first postseason victory since 2007.
Spring
Baseball
Diamond Dons Hand Oregon State First Loss of the Season
Zachary Turner, Brendan Hendriks and Bradley Zimmer provided the offense while Christian Cecilio, Haden Hinkle and Adam Cimber allowed just four hits as USF snapped No. 3 Oregon State's 15-game winning streak in a 5-1 victory in Corvallis.
Ninth Inning Thunder Downs Spartans
Trailing 2-0 to San Jose State heading into the bottom of the ninth and managing just two hits through the first eight innings, Bob Mott and Justin Maffei hit back-to-back home runs to tie the game and Zachary Turner later followed with a game-ending, two-run home run to lift USF to a 4-2 victory over the Spartans.
Atkinson's Walk Off Caps Comeback Win Over San Diego
In one of the most dramatic wins in the history of the program, sophomore Derek Atkinson hit a three-run, game-ending home run to lift the Dons to a 10-8 victory over San Diego at the WCC Championships in Stockton. After falling behind 6-0, the Dons still trailed the Toreros 8-6 heading into the last of the ninth. Zachary Turner's single scored Justin Maffei to cut the lead to 8-7. With two outs and the Dons down to their last strike, Atkinson belted a three-run home run to right field to give USF a 10-8 victory and send the Dons into the WCC Championship game.
Dons Outlast Jack Rabbits in Eugene Regional
Bob Cruikshank's sacrifice fly scored Bradley Zimmer with the winning run in the top of the 13th inning as USF staved off elimination with a 4-3 victory over South Dakota State. Bob Mott threw 3.2 innings of effective relief to earn the win.
Sand Volleyball
Grin and Bear It
Using an intense rally from No. 1 pair Valentina Zaloznik and Sara Staengle, USF knocked off California, 3-2, on Zaloznik's birthday. The pair dropped the first set of their match with Katarina Milosavljevic and Joan Coloiaro, 20-22, before roaring back to take the second 21-19. The Dons' duo closed out the decisive third set on a 6-1 run punctuated with a Zaloznik kill to close the match and initiate a chorus of “Happy Birthday” for the sophomore from Ljubno ob Savinji, Slovenia. “I think Sara and Valentina demonstrated that they can handle the pressure, and they actually perform well under pressure,” USF co-head coach Eyal Zimet said. “We all have complete confidence in them closing out matches. There were a lot of gut check moments throughout the games, and I think we've got pretty good guts.”
Men's Tennis
Dons Down Santa Clara to Advance to WCC Championship Semifinals
The Dons picked the right time to do something they hadn't done in three years by defeating No. 60 Santa Clara, 4-2, for their first victory over the Broncos since the 2009-10 campaign. USF lost the doubles point for just the third time all season, forcing the Dons to require four singles victories to advance to the semifinals. The Dons rose to the occasion, as Germain Bahri, William Schumacher, Thai Tu and Nils Skajaa won their respective matches to lift USF to a 4-3 victory over its Bay Area rival.
USF Upsets No. 69 UC Santa Barbara
USF overwhelmed the 69th-ranked Gauchos from the outset, jumping out to a 4-0 lead before eventually winning by a 4-3 margin at the Cal Club. The Dons got doubles victories from Bernardo Saraiva/Nils Skajaa at No. 2 doubles and Richard Bucalem/Jonathon Knowlman at No. 3 doubles to take an early 1-0 lead. Germain Bahri, Bernardo Saraiva and Thai Tu opened singles play with consecutive victories to seal the Dons' first victory over a ranked opponent.
Women's Tennis
Dons Post Impressive Road Victory Over No. 61 Loyola Marymount
USF battled back from adversity on multiple occasions to pick up its most impressive victory of the season. After dropping the first doubles match, Andrea Ka/Sofia Holmberg and Brooke Irish/Marina Nikolic rebounded with victories to give the Dons an early 1-0 lead. After LMU picked up two quick singles points to take a 2-1 lead, USF's Holmberg, Nikolic, Yurie Hashiguchi and Ka stormed back to take the next four points, giving the Dons a 5-2 victory and marking USF's only victory over a ranked opponent.
Men's Track & Field
Fantastic Finish
The West Coast Invitational marked the last regular season meet of the year, and the last chance for student-athletes to prove their mettle and earn a qualifying spot to the NCAA Preliminary Championships in Austin, Texas. The meet, hosted by Willamette in Salem, Ore., proved to be an across the board success for the men. USF had a top 6 finisher in every event in which a Don competed, including one-two finishes in the long jump and triple jump, and runner-up finishes in the 800 meters and 3,000 meter steeplechase. The highlight of the competition came as Steven Garboden, a senior from North Bend, Ore., raced to the school record in the 1,500 meters in 3:44.48 to take fourth place and earn a qualifying mark for nationals. Two weeks later in the NCAA Preliminary Championships, Garboden advanced to the quarterfinals in the event, finishing 22nd overall as the Dons sent a program-high three men to the competition.
Women's Track & Field
Records are Made to be Broken
The women's track and field team started the indoor season with a school record in the distance medley relay. And the squad continued etching its way into the record books nearly every weekend of the indoor and outdoor seasons, topping at least one previous record mark on all but three weekends of the season. Elena Burkard, Hillary Harris, Katherine Jamboretz and Sophie Curl started off the record performances by whizzing around the track at the Washington Invitational, but other runners joined in on the extraordinary performances as the season rolled on. All told, the Dons set new records in 11 different events, with some records falling more than once throughout the year.
Whether it was women's cross country winning a fourth straight WCC championship, the women's volleyball team sweeping its season series against California, buzzer beaters in basketball or the baseball team's dramatic win over San Diego at the WCC Championships – all 15 of USF's athletic teams enjoyed defining moments and outstanding performances during the 2012-13 athletic season on the Hilltop.
Here is a look back on some of the top team performances from this past season:
Fall
Men's Cross Country
USF Wins Bronco Invitational
Behind Jose Madera's record-setting performance, USF edged UC Davis to claim the team title at Santa Clara's Bronco Invitational on Oct. 13. Madera covered the 8k course in a school-record time of 24:06.4 to finish fifth overall. Steven Garboden (12th; 24:22.11) and Ganbileg Bor (17th; 24:28.014) also finished inside the Top 20.
Women's Cross Country
Four-Peat in Portland
Behind the strength of five runners that finished inside the top 10, USF claimed its fourth straight West Coast Conference Championship on Oct. 27 at Fernhill Park in Portland. Eva Krchova outdueled teammate Elena Burkard down the stretch to win the individual title with a time of 20:35 while Alice Baker (6th; 20:40), Laura Suur (7th; 20:43) and Chloe Trelevan (10th; 20:53) counted toward USF's team score with their top-10 finishes. USF's 25 team points was the best winning score since 2003 when Portland claimed the title with 23 points. For her performance, Krchova was named the WCC Cross Country Player of the Year, Burkard was named the conference's freshman of the year while Helen Lehman-Winters was named the WCC's Coach of the Year for a fifth time.
Men's Soccer
Jimison's Overtime Goal Earns Visser 100th Coaching Victory
Brady Jimison's first career goal couldn't have come at a better time. The Dons junior forward struck golf three minutes into the first overtime period to give USF a dramatic, 2-1 victory over Saint Mary's on Oct. 5. The win also marked Erik Visser's 100th career coaching victory on the Hilltop.
Women's Soccer
Dons Post Historic Tie Against Santa Clara on Senior Night
USF used a second-half rally and stout defense to push the No. 17 Santa Clara Broncos to a 2-2 tie at Negoesco Stadium on October 26. The tie marked the first time in nearly 30 meetings between the two Bay Area squads that USF has taken points from the Broncos.
Women's Volleyball
Dons First-Ever Win Over Cal Makes for a Historic Night
Behind 16 kills from Jocelyn Levig and Ester de Vries, USF downs 25th-ranked California in sets at the Hawaiian Airlines Classic in Honolulu. It was the Dons first-ever win over the Golden Bears and also was the 77th victory for Gilad Doron on the Hilltop, earning him the distinction of becoming the all-time winningest coach in USF history. Two weeks later, USF defeated Cal in three sets before a crowd of 1,112 in Memorial Gymnasium behind Levig's 20 kills and Rebecca Kopilovitch's 17 digs.
Winter
Men's Basketball
Dons Runaway From St. John's
With members of the 1949 NIT and 1955-56 NCAA Championship teams watching from courtside, USF turned in one of its most complete efforts of the season to defeat visiting St. John's, 81-65 before a raucous crowd Memorial Gymnasium. De'End Parker scored a team-high 21 points while Cody Doolin finished with 18 points and a career-high 14 assists as the Dons won their fifth straight game after a season-opening loss to Stanford.
Raining Threes in Provo
USF nailed 14 three-pointers en route to a 99-87 victory over BYU on Feb. 9 in Provo, Utah. The Dons shot 72 percent from the floor in the second half and made 9-of-10 of their three-point tries to rally from a 15-point deficit to post their first-ever win over the Cougars in Provo. USF ended the game shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and scored 60 points in the second half alone. De'End Parker led all USF scorers with 23 points while Chris Adams and Avry Holmes each added 17. Cody Doolin finished with 16 points and a game-high eight assists while Cole Dickerson posted his eighth double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 rebounds. “It was the biggest road win we've had since I've been here,” said head coach Rex Walters following the game. “It's hard to quiet this crowd and we did it tonight.”
Buzzer Beater – Part One
Cole Dickerson's three-pointer from the left wing with 0.01 remaining gave USF a 75-72 victory over Portland on Jan. 24 at the Chiles Center. Dickerson's three gave the Dons their only lead of the second half and completed a furious second half comeback that saw USF rally from an 11-point second half deficit to post its second straight conference victory. Cody Doolin tied the game with a straight away three-pointer with 1:02 left and following a Portland miss, the Dons got the ball back with a chance to take the last shot. With time winding down, Doolin found Dickerson on the left wing and the Dons escaped Portland with their second conference victory of the season.
Buzzer Beater – Part Two
After squandering a 20-point lead in its game at Loyola Marymount on Feb. 21, Cody Doolin's driving layup with 0.05 remaining lifted USF to a 61-59 victory over the Lions at Gersten Pavilion. A three-pointer by Dickerson tied the game at 59 with 1:00 remaining and following a crucial stop on the defensive end of the floor, the Dons got the ball back with 20 ticks remaining. Doolin had the ball between the circles on the left side and with time winding down, drove hard and beat Anthony Ireland on the right side and laid the ball off the glass for the game winner.
Women's Basketball
Magnificent Seven Set the Stage in Vegas
Playing with just seven available players, USF throttled Pepperdine, 80-48 in the first round of the WCC Championships in Las Vegas on March 6. Five players reached double figures in the scoring column for the first time of the season, led by senior Mel Khlok, who finished with a game-high 19 points, thanks in part to a school record 13-for-13 showing at the free throw line line. Bailey Barbour and Alicia Scafidi both posted double-doubles and Las Vegas native Zhane Dikes and Taj Winston added 16 points each to give the Dons their first postseason victory since 2007.
Spring
Baseball
Diamond Dons Hand Oregon State First Loss of the Season
Zachary Turner, Brendan Hendriks and Bradley Zimmer provided the offense while Christian Cecilio, Haden Hinkle and Adam Cimber allowed just four hits as USF snapped No. 3 Oregon State's 15-game winning streak in a 5-1 victory in Corvallis.
Ninth Inning Thunder Downs Spartans
Trailing 2-0 to San Jose State heading into the bottom of the ninth and managing just two hits through the first eight innings, Bob Mott and Justin Maffei hit back-to-back home runs to tie the game and Zachary Turner later followed with a game-ending, two-run home run to lift USF to a 4-2 victory over the Spartans.
Atkinson's Walk Off Caps Comeback Win Over San Diego
In one of the most dramatic wins in the history of the program, sophomore Derek Atkinson hit a three-run, game-ending home run to lift the Dons to a 10-8 victory over San Diego at the WCC Championships in Stockton. After falling behind 6-0, the Dons still trailed the Toreros 8-6 heading into the last of the ninth. Zachary Turner's single scored Justin Maffei to cut the lead to 8-7. With two outs and the Dons down to their last strike, Atkinson belted a three-run home run to right field to give USF a 10-8 victory and send the Dons into the WCC Championship game.
Dons Outlast Jack Rabbits in Eugene Regional
Bob Cruikshank's sacrifice fly scored Bradley Zimmer with the winning run in the top of the 13th inning as USF staved off elimination with a 4-3 victory over South Dakota State. Bob Mott threw 3.2 innings of effective relief to earn the win.
Sand Volleyball
Grin and Bear It
Using an intense rally from No. 1 pair Valentina Zaloznik and Sara Staengle, USF knocked off California, 3-2, on Zaloznik's birthday. The pair dropped the first set of their match with Katarina Milosavljevic and Joan Coloiaro, 20-22, before roaring back to take the second 21-19. The Dons' duo closed out the decisive third set on a 6-1 run punctuated with a Zaloznik kill to close the match and initiate a chorus of “Happy Birthday” for the sophomore from Ljubno ob Savinji, Slovenia. “I think Sara and Valentina demonstrated that they can handle the pressure, and they actually perform well under pressure,” USF co-head coach Eyal Zimet said. “We all have complete confidence in them closing out matches. There were a lot of gut check moments throughout the games, and I think we've got pretty good guts.”
Men's Tennis
Dons Down Santa Clara to Advance to WCC Championship Semifinals
The Dons picked the right time to do something they hadn't done in three years by defeating No. 60 Santa Clara, 4-2, for their first victory over the Broncos since the 2009-10 campaign. USF lost the doubles point for just the third time all season, forcing the Dons to require four singles victories to advance to the semifinals. The Dons rose to the occasion, as Germain Bahri, William Schumacher, Thai Tu and Nils Skajaa won their respective matches to lift USF to a 4-3 victory over its Bay Area rival.
USF Upsets No. 69 UC Santa Barbara
USF overwhelmed the 69th-ranked Gauchos from the outset, jumping out to a 4-0 lead before eventually winning by a 4-3 margin at the Cal Club. The Dons got doubles victories from Bernardo Saraiva/Nils Skajaa at No. 2 doubles and Richard Bucalem/Jonathon Knowlman at No. 3 doubles to take an early 1-0 lead. Germain Bahri, Bernardo Saraiva and Thai Tu opened singles play with consecutive victories to seal the Dons' first victory over a ranked opponent.
Women's Tennis
Dons Post Impressive Road Victory Over No. 61 Loyola Marymount
USF battled back from adversity on multiple occasions to pick up its most impressive victory of the season. After dropping the first doubles match, Andrea Ka/Sofia Holmberg and Brooke Irish/Marina Nikolic rebounded with victories to give the Dons an early 1-0 lead. After LMU picked up two quick singles points to take a 2-1 lead, USF's Holmberg, Nikolic, Yurie Hashiguchi and Ka stormed back to take the next four points, giving the Dons a 5-2 victory and marking USF's only victory over a ranked opponent.
Men's Track & Field
Fantastic Finish
The West Coast Invitational marked the last regular season meet of the year, and the last chance for student-athletes to prove their mettle and earn a qualifying spot to the NCAA Preliminary Championships in Austin, Texas. The meet, hosted by Willamette in Salem, Ore., proved to be an across the board success for the men. USF had a top 6 finisher in every event in which a Don competed, including one-two finishes in the long jump and triple jump, and runner-up finishes in the 800 meters and 3,000 meter steeplechase. The highlight of the competition came as Steven Garboden, a senior from North Bend, Ore., raced to the school record in the 1,500 meters in 3:44.48 to take fourth place and earn a qualifying mark for nationals. Two weeks later in the NCAA Preliminary Championships, Garboden advanced to the quarterfinals in the event, finishing 22nd overall as the Dons sent a program-high three men to the competition.
Women's Track & Field
Records are Made to be Broken
The women's track and field team started the indoor season with a school record in the distance medley relay. And the squad continued etching its way into the record books nearly every weekend of the indoor and outdoor seasons, topping at least one previous record mark on all but three weekends of the season. Elena Burkard, Hillary Harris, Katherine Jamboretz and Sophie Curl started off the record performances by whizzing around the track at the Washington Invitational, but other runners joined in on the extraordinary performances as the season rolled on. All told, the Dons set new records in 11 different events, with some records falling more than once throughout the year.
Monday, May 11
Monday, May 11
Monday, May 11
Saturday, May 09
