Tampa, FL - The No. 6 seed University of South Florida volleyball team (17-8 overall, 9-5 BIG EAST) is set to face the No. 3 seed Pittsburgh Panthers (20-8 overall, 12-2 BIG EAST) in the first round of the BIG EAST tournament on Friday, Nov. 20 at 10 a.m., at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville. This is the fourth year in a row that the Bulls earned a spot as one of the top eight teams in the BIG EAST.

"Pittsburgh is a well balanced team with lots of physical players," said head coach Claire Lessinger. "It will be important for us to minimize our unforced errors and diversify our offense against such an efficient team. We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead in Louisville and are hoping to make the most of them."

Last Time Out
The Bulls swept the DePaul Blue Demons, 3-0, to record their program-best ninth BIG EAST Conference win. USF has never won nine conference games since joining the BIG EAST in 2005. The Bulls fell to No. 24 Notre Dame in four sets to conclude the conference regular season.

Senior Jarka Havlickova and junior Allie Boaz each recorded 10 kills and hit over .500 with a .562 and .529 attack percentage, respectively, against the Blue Demons. USF outhit DePaul, .433 to .150, winning in three sets, 25-19, 25-14 and 25-16. It's the Bulls' highest attack percentage of the year in conference play.

Boaz and Marcela Gurgel led the Bulls with 15 kills apiece against the No. 24 Fighting Irish. Boaz set a new career high for kills in a match, which was previously 14. BIG EAST leading blocker Alli Arbogast added four blocks, 10 kills and hit at a .625 attack percentage in four sets. Sophomore Janice Rivera recorded a match-high 20 digs.

National Rankings
Arbogast continues to rank in the top-10 of the national leader board for the seventh week in a row, as she holds down the No. 5 place in blocks per set with 1.55, with the top player of the nation at 1.64. Redshirt freshman Caitlyn Breen finds herself 72nd with 1.13 blocks and leads all freshmen in the BIG EAST. Gurgel currently ranks 57th in the nation in kills per set with 3.91. As a team, the Bulls are sixth in the country in blocks, averaging 2.89 per set.

Scouting Pittsburgh
Head coach Toby Rens recorded his 250th career victory on Sunday with a 3-0 win over Rutgers. The win marked Pitt's 12th conference victory of the season and a school record for BIG EAST wins in a season. It was also the Panthers' ninth shutout, another single season record for conference wins.

Senior Michelle Rossi collected a career-high 37 digs on Friday night, one short of tying the school record. Rossi surpassed the 2,000-career dig mark in the first set of Sunday's match.

The Series History with the Panthers
The match against Pittsburgh will mark the sixth meeting between the teams. The Bulls fell to the Panthers, 3-2 in a tight matchup at The Corral on Oct.11 earlier in the year. The Panthers lead the series, 4-1.

BIG EAST Tournament History
The University of South Florida Bulls have never gotten further than the second round of the BIG EAST tournament. In 2006 and 2008, USF lost to St. John's in the first round, 3-0. In 2007, the Bulls defeated Villanova, 3-0, before falling to St. John's, 3-1.