The University of South Florida volleyball team will give their thoughts on the 2011 season every week. The Bulls posted an undefeated 3-0 mark en route to winning the UCF Invitational last weekend. Junior J'beria Davis talks about the tournament...

After coming off a rough home opening weekend, we had to really focus the next week in practice to prepare for the upcoming UCF Tournament. Last week's practice was all about efficiency! After four days of practice we were ready to redeem ourselves and regain confidence. After our ritual of pre-match dancing in the locker room and the family circle, we were too pumped!

Our first match was Saturday against Florida Atlantic University. Focusing on what coaches stressed in practice last week, we were able to sweep the Owls 25-11, 25-13, 25-18. This was also the largest point margin won by the 2011 USF Volleyball team.

The next morning we were up against the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. UNC-G were savages on defense, no balls hit the floor! Adjusting our game plan a little and staying composed, we were able to pull out another 3-0 sweep 31-29, 25-20, 25-16. We had to get plenty of rest because at 7pm the same day would be the "War on I-4" rivalry battle between us and the University of Central Florida.

We did our pre-game ritual and ran out of the locker room chanting our fight song pumped and ready to shock the world. UCF had recently moved to #30 in the nation and had just beaten No. 3 University of Southern California. The adrenaline was pumping and everyone was ready to win this battle. After four long and intense games, we were able to pull out a victory 11-25, 26-24, 27-25, 25-21. The talented Knights really tested our maturity this weekend!

An emotional celebration took place after the win and awards were presented. Freshman Shelbie Dailey and sophomore Andrea Rodriguez earned All-Tournament Team and Freshman Valerie El Houssine earned Tournament MVP. As promised by our coaches, we were rewarded for a break-through weekend.

After a very exciting weekend, we are back in the gym on Tuesday to prepare for matches at Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.

JB Davis #3