Nov. 5, 2003

It has been a very exciting weekend of volleyball here at USF! The opportunity to host Pepperdine and LMU was something all of us were really looking forward to. Unfortunately, it ended with a bit of disappointment for our team. We played two really good matches and fought hard in both, losing in five both nights. I think it is exciting that we are starting to really take a stand against these traditional powerhouses. Our Dons have really come a long way the past few months. One of the traits I really wanted our team to develop was to really become fighters every night. I am seeing the team embrace that. Teams know that when they play us, it is going to be a challenge and our team is going to make them earn everything they get. This is what I am most proud of our team for after the weekend.

Brit really had an awesome weekend and really showed why she is a legitimate All-American candidate. It was fun to watch her and Katie Wilkins battling in the match last night. Teresa Russell also played well at the net last night and put up some good numbers for the team. It was great to see Jencie and KeLicia have strong matches last night...both coming off the bench to put up some big blocks and raise the level of the game at the net. We need to serve a little better and more aggressively if we are going to get over the hump and knock off a team of Pepperdine's ability.

It is important that we get right back on the horse and start preparing for next weekend. There are no easy matches in this conference and we have to go to battle every night. This is a tough road trip! Gonzaga has played well at home all year and Portland has the talent to beat anybody. I am looking forward to a couple of tough matches and am confident in our team's ability to keep improving.

The most amazing thing to me is that there are only five matches left to the regular season. This has truly been a season of firsts for this program. All of us enter November with high hopes that for the first time ever this program can get an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. It would really be exciting to see this season extend into December. However, we are going to take this one day and one match at a time as we try to take this as far as it can go!!!

We have two more home games left and really need everyone's support in the homestretch...so please join us on November 14 and 15. We will also be saying goodbye to five seniors on the 15th. They have made a huge impact on the program and really set the mark so much higher for the future.

Thanks to all for your support! We will keep fighting and make you proud!

Jeff