Sept. 6, 2008
(San Francisco) - USF volleyball swept Utah State 25-19, 25-21, 25-22 in the finale of the 2008 Asics/Powerade Challenge Saturday night at War Memorial Gym. It marks the fourth straight year the Dons (4-2) have taken the tournament hardware, this time at the expense of the Aggies (0-7). San Francisco continued its hot hitting registering .361 against Utah State in the finale and finished the weekend with .315 attacking over the three matches. The Dons limited tournament opponents to a .193 clip and held a 29.0 - 22.0 blocking advantage. Senior middle blocker Carly Babin earned tournament MVP honors, averaging 3.30 kills on an impressive .519 hitting and 1.30 blocks per game. It is the second straight time Babin has taken MVP honors at the Asics Powerade Challenge and the first repeat winner in the tournament's five-year history. Senior middle blocker Alix Gombos also was named to the all-tournament team, averaging 3.00 kills on remarkable .481 hitting with a team-high 1.40 blocks. Sophomore opposite hitter also took tournament hardware, averaging a team-high 3.90 kills on .354 attacking with 0.70 blocks per game. Mandala also earned Asics/Powerade Challenge honors last season. USF returns to action when it hosts the 2008 Asics/Coca-Cola Invitational beginning Friday, September 12 at War Memorial Gym. The Dons welcome Miami, Sacramento State and Villanova to the Hilltop. All-Tournament Team: Team Champion: USF (3-0); Runner-up UCSB (2-1); UT Arlington (1-2); Utah State (0-3).
USF def. USU 3-1: All tournament selections Carly Babin (MVP) and Sarah Mandala each recorded 11 kills to lead USF to a 25-19, 25-21, 25-22 sweep against a determined Utah State squad in the tournament finale. The Dons (4-2) hit .361 for the match and held the Aggies (0-7) to .168. Addie Webster recorded 11 kills with seven digs and junior libero Haley Carroll tallied a match-high 16 digs for the Dons. Senior setter Darcy Carroll dished out 25 assists and sophomore Alaina Sully added 15. Utah State got a match-high 19 kills from Melissa Osterloh and seven kills and 10 digs from Kris Hymas. UCSB def. UT Arlington 3-0: UC Santa Barbara defeated UT Arlington 3-0 in game five of the USF Asics/Powerade Challenge to finish 2-1 in the tournament. Charlene DeHoog led the Gauchos with 14 kills, while teammates Kasey Kipp, Lauren McLaughlin, and Rebecca Saraceno each added ten. As a team, the Gauchos hit .454. Bianca Sauls and Tara Frantz led UT Arlington with seven kills a piece, while Alicia Shaffer had 14 digs. |
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