The Fletch Report: October 16th, 2023
Your Weekly Newsletter Recapping USF Olympic Sports
1157 Words
6 Minutes, 19 seconds of readingWelcome back to The Fletch Report, your go-to weekly newsletter dedicated to bringing you the latest on University of South Florida's Olympic Sports. In this concise and informative newsletter, we'll dive into the highlights of the previous week's athletic events and matches, while also offering a glimpse of what's on the horizon.
USF Weekly Honors
USF’s strong showing of events the previous week resulted in the following conference honors:
- Signe Markvardsen was named AAC Offensive Player of the Week for women’s soccer.
- Additionally, the sophomore defender landed on the College Soccer News Team of the Week.
USF Women’s Soccer: Strong Defensive Play
Taming the Mean Green: USF welcomed a potent attacking University of North Texas to Corbett Stadium on October 12th. The Mean Green had averaged 2.5 goals per game in conference play coming into this match up, so the Bulls knew they needed to deliver on the defensive side of the ball. The Bulls flipped the script on UNT and kept a possessive and aggressive play style all night to keep the visitors at bay. The first half remained scoreless however, but the Bulls outshot UNT 9-4 in the opening 45 and did not give up a corner kick to the Mean Green.
In the 2nd half the reigning offensive player of the week delivered once again, with a goal in the 55th minute, Signe Markvardsen gave the green and gold the lead that they would not give up. The Bulls continued their offensive firepower for the remaining 35 minutes to try to double their lead, but it wasn’t necessary as they would go on to win the match 1-0.
Ponies Depressed: The Bulls hosted their second straight team from Texas, this time against battle tested SMU who came into the match 7-3-1 and tied 3rd with the Bulls in the AAC. The crucial match up would see both teams stay even the entire 90 minutes, with both teams getting 4 shots on goal, but SMU with a slight edge 11 to 7 in overall shots.
Sadie Sider-Echenberg would get a decisive goal in the 34th minute with an assist by Micahela Hill to give the Bulls the lead. The Ponies would try to equalize, but USF goalie Leire Herraez Gallach was there to collect all four saves she needed to earn her fourth clean sheet overall and third straight.
Look Ahead: The Bulls will travel to the Lone Star State for a double conference match up, first against Rice on Thursday October 19th at 8 pm, and then against UTSA on Sunday October 22nd at 2 pm.
Score Summary:
UNT (W 1-0)
Signe Markvardsen
SMU (W 1-0)
Sadie Sider-Echenberg
USF Men’s Soccer: Pursuing Crucial Points
Drew in Philly: With only 3 more conference match ups remaining, the Bulls are looking to score crucial points in hopes of reaching the conference tournament in back-to-back seasons. Currently USF is in 8th place out of 9 teams, while the top 6 teams will qualify for the conference tournament.
With the expectations set, USF needed points (either a win or a draw) in Temple after dropping points in 3 of the 4 conference games so far. Things looked bleak early in the first half when the Owls went up 1-0 in the 8th minute. But a crucial goal merely seconds into the second half by Pedro Faife got the Bulls level on the evening. The Bulls put up 12 shots in the second half to try to find the winning goal, but none were true and the match ended in a draw, giving both teams a point.
Look Ahead: USF will travel to DeLand for a midweek match up on Tuesday October 17th at 7 pm against the Hatters. They’ll return home to play hosts to UAB on Saturday October 21st at 7pm.
Score Summary:
Temple (T 1-1)
Pedro Faife
USF Volleyball: Coach Jo’s Milestone
Charlotte’s Dead: The Bulls welcomed Charlotte to The Corral for two matches on Friday and Sunday respectively. USF handled their business, defeating 49ers 3-0 on Friday and then 3-1 on Sunday to move back into a tie for 1st place in the East Division of the AAC.
On Friday, The Bulls swept Charlotte 3-0 to get Coach Jolene Shepardson her 150th career win. Maria Clara Andrade led USF with 16 kills on the evening, with Buse Hazan right behind her with 14 kills. The duo combined for 30 of the 49 kills by the Green and Gold. A tough first set saw USF win 25-21, but a more decisive second set victory 25-10 deflated the Charlotte momentum on the match. In the final stanza, USF commanded the set to win 25-17.
Sunday was closer (ish) between Charlotte and USF, and a tightly contested first and second set saw the Bulls in the middle of a non-sweep match for the first time in almost a month. The first set went to USF 25-22, the 49ers used a 3-0 run when USF was leading 24-23 to win the 2nd set in a comeback 26-24. However, and much like the Friday night match, the Bulls were able to compound some 49ers’ mistakes in a decisive set, winning the 3rd set 25-15. The fourth and final set had the Bulls in control from the get go on their way to a 25-11 victory. Buse Hazan led USF with 19 kills and 19 digs for another double-double. Meanwhile, Caroline Dykes recorded a staggering 56 assists for the Bulls.
Looking Ahead: USF will host North Texas on Friday October 20th at 6 pm at the Yeungling Center.
Other USF Sports in Action
Additional olympic sports continue to compete throughout the fall calendar schedule.
USF men’s cross country finished 2nd out of 13 teams running at the SSC Preview in Lakeland
Sebastian Edwards paced the Bulls and finished 7th overall
USF women’s cross country also finished 2nd out of 11 teams at the same event
Delaney Stephens was the Bulls top finisher at 3rd overall
Both Cross Country teams will go to Grimesland, N.C. to compete in the AAC Championships scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 28 at 9:15 a.m.
USF Sailing competed in two regattas over the past week
At the the Stu Nelson Women’s Regatta, USF finished 8th place overall out of 16 teams competing.
At the SAISA Fall Women's Regatta, the Bulls finished 8th.
USF Men’s Golf earned a T-1st team finish at the USF Invitational, while senior Sam Nicholson earned himself a T-1st individual finish to give the Bulls two trophies on the day.
USF Women’s Golf, finished 2nd at the Dale McNamara Invitational, and Melanie Green finished 3rd on the individual side, giving the Bulls another top 5 finish in both the team and individual performance.