James Salazar
Staff Writer
After enduring prolonged offseasons, three USF athletic programs made their returns to action over the course of this past week. Additionally, the USF women’s basketball team is riding a winning streak, the likes of which has not been matched in almost four years. Here is your recap of this week in Dons’ sports.
USF women’s volleyball lost their season opener Jan. 26 against the Pepperdine University Waves, falling in straight sets (12-25, 21-25, 20-25). Junior McKenna Marshall earned her first career double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs, and freshman setter Aylen Ayub finished the game with 23 assists and 10 digs, earning a double-double in her USF debut. Senior Anna Dalla Vecchia finished the game with 23 digs, moving to No. 11 all-time in Dons’ history with 925 career digs.
The Dons again hosted the Waves Jan. 27 at the Sobrato Center, losing in four sets (25-23, 29-31, 17-25, 22-25). Marshall earned her second-consecutive double-double with 17 kills and 14 digs. Freshman Greta Corti finished the game with 17 kills and 12 digs, marking her first career double-double.
USF women’s tennis made their 2021 debut Jan. 29 against the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears, losing by a score of 0-7. The Golden Bears clinched the doubles point with a 3-6 win over the duo of Mya Bui and Rita Colyer, and they won the overall match when junior Arianna Capogrosso was defeated in straight sets (2-6, 2-6).
USF men’s golf teed off Jan. 25 at the Arizona International, a three-day tournament hosted by the University of Arizona Wildcats. After three rounds, the Dons finished the tournament in fourth-place, coming in at 20-over-872 (306-282-284).
By the tournament’s end, three Dons had earned top-30 finishes. Graduate student Tim Widing finished the tournament tied for seventh-place with a 2-over-215 (76-70-69), marking his 20th career top-ten finish, and junior Matthew Anderson tied for a 14th-place finish with a 4-over-217 (76-71-70). Further down the rankings, senior Soren Lind tied for a 28th-place finish with a 7-over-220 (75-71-74).
USF women’s basketball is currently riding a four-game winning streak, an achievement they last accomplished in February 2017. On Jan. 25, the Dons beat the Pepperdine University Waves 64-56. Redshirt freshman Ioanna Krimili and senior Lucie Hoskova both finished the game in double-digits.
The Dons followed up their first win against Pepperdine with another three days later, beating the Waves 68-54 this time. Krimili finished the contest with a game-high 24 points, shooting 7-for-10 from beyond the arc, tying the USF single-game record for three-pointers made, shared by Rachel Howard, Andrea Katie, and Amy Touli.
On Jan. 30, the Dons routed the visiting Loyola Marymount University Tigers by a score of 84-66. Krimili finished the contest with a team-leading 29 points; her eighth 20-point game of the season as well as the tenth of her career. She also made nine three-pointers, setting both a USF single-game record and tying a West Coast Conference record for three-pointers made in a conference game. Three other Dons finished in double-digits as redshirt freshman Amalie Langer, Hoskova, and junior Abby Rathbun finished the game with totals of 17, 13, and 12 points respectively.
