USF news roundup: Volleyball team nears a title, women's hoops to face UTRGV

The USF volleyball team (17-9, 13-2 AAC) can clinch the American Athletic Conference regular-season championship with a win on Sunday against UAB at The Corral.

The game starts at 11 a.m.

The Bulls put themselves in the driver’s seat by sweeping Tulane on Friday night. 

 USF hasn’t won a regular-season title since 2002, when head coach Jolene Shepardson was on the team. If the Bulls win the title, they will go into the AAC Tournament as the No. 1 Seed. 

Against Tulane, the Bulls set a Corral record attendance of 978, the second time they have set a record attendance this season. When South Florida welcomed N.C. State in September, they had a record attendance of 976.

Women’s basketball team tries to get back on track

The Bulls welcome Texas Rio Grande Valley on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Yuengling Center. The game will air live on ESPN+.

After opening with two wins, the Bulls dropped games at UConn and against Vanderbilt at the YC. UTRGV is 1-2.

Against the Commodores, sophomore guard Vittoria Blasigh led the Bulls with a season-best 15 points and a team-high three 3-pointers.

Graduate guard Mama Dembele had five assists, pushing her streak of at least three assists to 33 consecutive games. That’s the second-longest active Division I streak in the country, behind Drake’s Katie Dinnebier (47 games).

Bulls sign another international player

USF women's basketball head coach Jose Fernandez announced the signing of point guard Lee Teichman on Wednesday afternoon. She will join the Bulls in 2025-26.

Teichman comes to Tampa Bay from Bitan Aharon, Israel. She was also selected as one of the top 60 prospects from 25 different countries across Europe and the Middle East to play in the NBA and FIBA sponsors Basketball Without Borders Event.

Teichman also plays for Ramat Hasharon in the Israel Division A Basketball League.

“Lee is a quick and crafty point guard,” Fernandez said. “She strives in an up tempo style of play so she will fit perfectly in our system at USF.”

The current USF 13-player roster includes 11 players outside the United States.

Stokes is now a semifinalist for a prestigious award

USF senior punter Andrew Stokes has been named a semifinalist for the 2024 Ray Guy Award, recognizing the nation’s most outstanding collegiate punter.

The 10 semifinalists were chosen from a field of 89 nominated candidates. 

Stokes, a 30-year-old former Australian rules football player, is having a career-best season in his final campaign. He is on pace to set USF season and career records for punts that landed inside the 20 and post a top-two season in punting average.

Golf teams announce key signings

USF’s men’s golf team announced the addition of Roman Solomon for the 2025-26 season. Solomon joins the Bulls from Sarasota. 

Solomon won the 2022 Curry Cup and placed in the top 5 nine times on the Underrated Tour, founded by NBA superstar Steph Curry. He also won the 2021 Mack Champion Invitational Champion and the 2023 PGA Tour Pathway to Progression. Solomon has been ranked as high as 5th in Florida.

Solomon’s family has no shortage of standout athletes. His father is six-time MLB all-star Bobby Bonilla and his brother, John, played Division I basketball at Montana.

The women’s team added Matyla Krawczynska and Tiphani Knight for the upcoming 2025-26 season.

Krawczynska, from Czestochowa, Poland was the Polish Junior Champion for the past three years. She also won the 5-star international championship each of the past three years.  

Knight joins the Bulls from Almeria, Spain, where she won the 2023 Triple A European Championship and the 2024 Lauro Finnish Open.