Sept. 18, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

UP NEXT FOR THE DONS: USF travels to Orange County to compete in the 2008 Cal State Fullerton Titan Classic, beginning Friday, September 19 at Titan Gym. The Dons play a 7:00 PM match against the host Titans to open tournament play on Friday and then compete against No. 9 Cal and Central Connecticut State Saturday. San Francisco is coming off a runner-up showing in the Asics/Coca-Cola Invitational, where it dropped a tough 3-2 decision to Miami in the title contest. In three tournament this season, the Dons have posted a pair of runner-up finishes and won the Asics/Powerade Challenge.

CARROLL AND MANDALA EARN ALL-TOURNAMENT: Junior libero Haley Carroll and sophomore opposite hitter Sarah Mandala were selected to the Asics Coca-Cola Invitational all-tournament team. It is the tournament honor for Carroll this season and the second straight for Mandala. Carroll, who moved into third place on the USF career digs chart, averaged a team-high 5.33 digs for the weekend, including a season-high 31 against Miami in the title match. Mandala led the Dons offensively with 3.75 kills on ,330 attacking and 21 kills against the Hurricanes.

Carly Babin ASICS/POWERADE MVP... AGAIN: Senior middle blocker Carly Babin looks for a strong finish in her final season in the Green and Gold. Babin ranked among West Coast Conference leaders in attack percentage (fourth/.355) and blocks (fifth/1.18). Last season, Babin ranked third on the team in kills, averaging 2.82 per game. After just recording 17 total blocks as a freshman, Babin enters the fourth week of 2008 with 311, good for eighth on the career charts and her 48 solo stuffs rate 10th. Babin needs just six more blocks to move past Tracy Harrison (1982-85) who currently sits in sixth place with 316. The Las Vegas native enjoyed one of the most prolific blocking seasons in USF history as a sophomore in 2006, ranking second in single-season stuffs with 160.

Haley Carroll - WCC DEFENDER OF THE YEAR: Junior libero Haley Carroll followed up an outstanding freshman season with an even better sophomore campaign and captured 2007 West Coast Conference Defender of the Year honors. It was the first major individual conference award ever presented to a Don. Carroll led the league in digs (4.97) and was even better in WCC contests (5.64). The Gilroy, CA native is the first player in program history to twice surpass 500 digs in a single season and defied staggering odds to record 522 in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. Carroll enters the fourth week of the 2008 season ranked third on the USF career digs chart with 1,204 and needs 33 to move past Dons Hall-of-Famer and Legend of the Hilltop Melanie Kaiser (1988-91), who currently ranks second with 1,236.

Alix Gombos ATTACKS WITH AUTHORITY: Senior middle blocker Alix Gombos turned in a strong junior season, capped by her second straight All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mention selection. Gombos ranked fourth among league leaders in blocks (fourth/1.22) and attack percentage (seventh/.309). Gombos elevated her game during WCC play, 2.20 kills on .320 hitting with 1.30 blocks per game. The Oregonian turned in one of the finest offensive seasons by a middle as a sophomore, ranking second among league leaders in attack percentage (.345) and seventh among league block leaders (1.14). Gombos enters her final collegiate campaign as the top attacker in program history (.326).

Sarah Mandala GETS IT DONE: Sophomore opposite hitter Sarah Mandala turned in the most prolific offensive season by a freshman in school history and ranked second in kills (3.40) and captured West Coast Conference Honorable Mention selection after averaging a team-high 3.53 kills on .267 hitting during league matches. A two-time WCC Player of the Week selection, Mandala shattered the freshman kills record with 350 in her inaugural season, easily surpassing Theresa Hart (2003-05), who tallied 277 in 2003. Mandala leads the Dons offensively, averaging 3.68 kills on .234 hitting.

USF AGAINST TITAN CLASSIC FIELD: San Francisco is set to compete in the Cal State Fullerton Titan Classic for the first time since 2000, when it won the tournament hardware with an opening round sweep of Fordham and 3-1 wins against Idaho State and the host Titans in the finale. USF dropped a 3-1 decision to Cal State Fullerton in 2005 in the Portland State Viking Showcase. San Francisco has not faced Cal since the 2002 regular season finale when the Golden Bears took a 3-0 sweep at War Memorial Gym. The Dons swept Central Connecticut State in the last meeting between the two schools in the 2004 USF Asics/Powerade Classic.

DONS TOUGH AGAINST THE EAST COAST: With a 3-1 victory against Villanova (9/13) during the 2008 Asics/Coca-Cola Invitational, the Dons improved to a remarkable 30-3 against East Coast schools since 2000. San Francisco's 18-match winning streak against opponents from the "Right Coast" ended the same day in a 3-2 setback against Miami in the title match. Before falling to the Hurricanes, USF's last East Coast setback came to perennial national power No. 7 Penn State in 2004 at the Stanford Invitational.

USF ASICS/COCA-COLA INVITATIONAL RECAP: USF posted its second consecutive runner-up showing in the 2008 Asics/Coca-Cola Invitational last weekend at War Memorial Gym. The Dons swept defending champion Sacramento State and then dispatched Villanova 3-1 in Saturday's opening match, setting the stage for the title match against Miami. After crushing the `Canes 25-11 in the first set, Miami roared back to take the second and third, before the Dons rebounded to even the score with a 25-21 win in set four. USF jumped out to a commanding 5-1 lead in the decisive fifth frame, but Miami claimed the tournament hardware, going on a 14-5 run to dispatch the Dons. San Francisco hit at a .285 clip for the tournament and held a 162-129 kills advantage. Sophomore opposite hitter Sarah Mandala led the way for the Dons offensively, averaging 3.75 kills, while junior libero Haley Carroll paced the defensive effort with a tournament-high 5.33 digs per game. Both captured all-tournament selection. Senior middle blocker Carly Babin added 2.83 kills on a remarkable .475 hitting, while senior middle blocker Alix Gombos added 2.17 kills on .457 attacking.

USF DONS VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT NOTES
- Since 2003, USF has competed in 25 tournaments and has captured 13 championships with seven runner-up showings.
- The Dons established a program record by winning four tournament titles in 2003 later matched by the 2006 squad.
- Since 2003, 14 Dons have captured tournament MVP honors and 59 have earned all-tournament selections.
- San Francisco owns a 19-1 record in its Asics/PowerAde Challenge with five tournament titles (2003, 2005-08) and one runner-up showing.
- USF posted tournament victories against eight eventual league champions in the past three seasons, four in true road matches.

DONS HOST PAIR OF 2008 TOURNAMENTS: USF hosted two tournaments for the second straight season, this year on back-to-back weekends. The Dons won their first event when they took a 3-1 win against perennial NCAA power UC Santa Barbara, followed by sweeps of Texas-Arlington and Utah State in the USF Asics/PowerAde Challenge. The Dons won the event for the fourth straight season and have taken the hardware five times since the tournament debut in 2003. USF hosted its second tournament of the year September 12-13 with the second annual Asics/Coca-Cola Invitational. The Dons opened in impressive fashion with a sweep of defending champion Sacramento State in the opener and then took a 3-1 victory against Villanova Saturday morning. San Francisco opened strong against Miami, but dropped a hard-fought 3-2 decision in the championship tilt, snapping a five-match winning streak.

Gilad Doron ENTERS SECOND SEASON IN THE GREEN AND GOLD: After guiding USF to its program record third straight winning season, Gilad Doron enters his second season on the Hilltop. Doron was named as head coach March 14, 2007. Before arriving on the Hilltop, Doron spent three years as the head coach at Villanova (2004-06), guiding the Wildcats to back-to-back winning seasons in the Big East. Doron is assisted on the bench by former US National Team setter Dan Fisher, who enters his second season on the Hilltop and his first as the associate head coach and Sam Hastings, who also enters her second year at USF after playing Doron at Villanova.

Addie Webster VERSATILE FOR USF: Senior outside hitter Addie Webster made solid contributions for the Dons in her first season on the Hilltop, ranking fourth on the team in kills (2.58) and was third in digs (2.59). A transfer from Eastern Washington, Webster captured Big Sky Newcomer of the Year honors in 2005 and turned in a team-high seven double-double matches for the Dons. Webster recorded 13 kills on .306 hitting to go along with 16 digs against Fresno State (8/25) and turned in 12 kills and 17 digs against Cal State Northridge (8/25). Webster tallied nine kills and nine digs against Oregon (9/4) and turned in her third double-double of the year with 11 kills and 11 digs against No. 14 Cal Poly (9/15). Entering the fourth week of the 2008 season, Webster needs nine kills to reach 1,000 in her career. Webster notched 669 kills with the Eagles.

Darcy Carroll MOVING ON UP CAREER ASSISTS CHART: Senior setter Darcy Carroll enjoyed the finest season of her career last season, ranking fifth among West Coast Conference leaders in assists (11.01), the sixth-best single season tally in program history. Last year the Dons offense hit at a .228 rate, the third best mark in program history, with Carroll doing the lion's share of setting. Carroll enters week three of her final season on the Hilltop ranked sixth in career assists with 2,480. Molly McEnery (1994-96) currently sits in the fifth spot with 2,928. A 2005 West Coast Conference Freshman Team selection, Carroll dished out a career-high 71 assists against No. 14 Cal Poly (9/14/07).

TAKING THE FIFTH: USF is 1-1 in five-set matches this season, taking a 3-2 victory against Missouri State (8/29) and falling to Miami (9/13), good for an impressive 17-11 record in matches going the distance since the start of the 2003 season. The Dons posted a 2-3 record in five sets in 2007. San Francisco's streak of nine consecutive five-game match wins came to an end in the 2006 regular season finale against Portland State in the Banker's Classic. The Dons posted its ninth straight five set decision with a thriller at Long Island (9/22) at the 2006 LIU Blackbird Invitational. The Dons turned in an impressive 6-0 record in five-game matches in 2005 after going 0-4 during the 2004 campaign. Since 2003, the Dons are 14-7 in matches going the distance. USF was 5-2 in five sets during its "Season of Firsts", with its only two setbacks coming against No. 13 Loyola Marymount and No. 5 Pepperdine.