South Florida Bulls volleyball

Not to be confused with South Florida Bulls beach volleyball.

The South Florida Bulls volleyball team represents the University of South Florida in the sport of women's volleyball. The Bulls compete in the American Athletic Conference of NCAA Division I. The team plays their home games at The Corral inside the Yuengling Center on USF's campus in Tampa, Florida. They are coached by Jolene Shepardson who was hired after the 2019 season. The Bulls have reached seven NCAA women's volleyball tournaments and won a combined 19 regular season and tournament conference championships in their history, the most of any women's team at USF.

South Florida Bulls volleyball
Founded	1972 (1972)
University	University of South Florida
Athletic director	Michael Kelly
Head coach	Jolene Shepardson (4th season)
Conference	The American
Location	Tampa, Florida
Home arena	The Corral (capacity: 1,000)
Nickname	Bulls
Colors	Green and gold
AIAW/NCAA Tournament appearance
1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002
Conference tournament champion
1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1995, 1996, 2002
Conference regular season champion
1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2024

History

Like many women's sports teams in colleges across the country, the USF women's volleyball team was founded in 1972 after the passing of Title IX. The NCAA did not sponsor women's sports at the time, so the Lady Brahmans as they were known until 1987 played in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Small College Division (equivalent to NCAA Division II) for their first year and the AIAW Large College Division (equivalent to NCAA Division I) from 1973 until the association dissolved after the spring of 1982.

The Brahmans played as independents as members of the AIAW, as well as during their first year in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). They joined USF's men's teams in the Sun Belt Conference before their 1983 season, and they won their first conference championship that year.

The program was very successful in the years directly after they joined the NCAA. In the first 21 seasons after the AIAW's collapse, USF won all of their 11 regular season conference titles and seven conference tournaments, as well as making each of their seven NCAA women's volleyball tournament appearances. They have also made the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (formerly called the Women's Invitational Volleyball Championship) four times, including a quarterfinal appearance in 1994 and semifinal appearance in 2023.

In 1995 the team moved from the old USF Gymnasium, where it had called home since the team was founded in 1972, to The Corral, a volleyball-specific area within the Yuengling Center with a capacity of about 1,000. The Bulls also play some home games on the main floor of the Yuengling Center (used for the men's and women's basketball teams), particularly rivalry games and games against ranked opponents.

The Bulls won their first conference title in 22 years in the 2024 season.

Season by season results

Year	Conference	Games played	Record	Win percentage	Conference record	Head coach	Postseason
1972	Independent (AIAW Small College Division)	18	10–8	.556	N/A	Janie Cheatham
1973	Independent (AIAW Large College Division)	32	20–12	.625
1974		23	15–8	.652
1975		30	19–11	.633
1976		32	16–16	.500		Cyndi Miranda
1977		42	25–17	.595		Kathy Patrick
1978		32	9–23	.281		Rich Romine
1979		42	19–23	.452		Mary Beth Hood (first 30 games; 15–15) Hildred Deese (final 12 games; 4–8)
1980		35	14–21	.400		Hildred Deese
1981		38	23–13–2	.632
1982	Independent (NCAA Division I)	35	17–18	.486
1983	Sun Belt Conference	42	22–20	.524	7–2
1984		38	26–12	.684	13–2	Debbie Richardson
1985		44	26–18	.591	11–3
1986		47	34–13	.723	10–0
1987		50	29–21	.580	11–5
1988		35	25–10	.714	9–1
1989		41	22–19	.537	8–1		WIVC (first round)
1990		42	18–24	.429	6–5
1991	Metro Conference	35	18–17	.514	3–3	Perry Hankins
1992		27	15–12	.556	4–2
1993		30	23–7	.767	6–0		NCAA (first round)
1994		37	28–9	.757	5–1		NIVC (quarterfinal)
1995	Conference USA	32	27–5	.844	11–1		NCAA (first round)
1996		32	27–5	.844	13–1		NCAA (first round)
1997		35	26–9	.743	15–1		NCAA (second round)
1998		33	25–8	.758	13–3		NCAA (first round)
1999		33	15–18	.455	7–9	Nancy Mueller
2000		34	28–6	.824	15–1		NCAA (first round)
2001		30	21–9	.700	13–3
2002		37	30–7	.811	12–1		NCAA (second round)
2003		32	12–20	.375	6–7
2004		29	9–20	.310	5–8	Claire Lessinger
2005	Big East	26	4–22	.154	1–13
2006		29	12–17	.414	7–7
2007		29	19–10	.655	8–6
2008		31	17–14	.548	7–7
2009		28	18–10	.643	9–5
2010		28	10–18	.357	6–8
2011		28	12–16	.429	7–7
2012		32	17–15	.531	7–8	Courtney Draper
2013	American Athletic Conference	32	17–15	.531	11–7
2014		32	14–18	.438	8–12
2015		32	11–21	.344	8–12
2016		32	19–13	.594	10–10
2017		30	12–18	.400	7–13
2018		32	20–12	.625	9–9		NIVC (first round)
2019		30	7–23	.233	1–15
2020		14	6–8	.429	3–5	Jolene Shepardson
2021		31	7–24	.226	1–19
2022		30	10–20	.333	4–14
2023		34	22–12	.647	13–6		NIVC (semifinal)
Total		1714	951–761–2	.555	330–243		11 Appearances
Bold indicates tournament won Italics indicate Conference Championship

USF Athletic Hall of Fame

Main article: University of South Florida Athletic Hall of Fame

Two former volleyball players are members of the University of South Florida Athletic Hall of Fame. Michelle Collier played from 1998 to 2002, owns seven school records, and has her number 10 jersey hanging from the rafters in The Corral. She was inducted in 2011. Erika Berggren played from 1993–96 and was named conference player of the year twice. She was inducted in 2022.

Media

Under the current American Athletic Conference TV deal, all home and in-conference away volleyball games are shown on one of the various ESPN networks or streamed live on ESPN+. Live radio broadcasts of games are also available worldwide for free on the Bulls Unlimited digital radio station on TuneIn.

See also

• University of South Florida
• South Florida Bulls
• South Florida Bulls beach volleyball

External links

• Official website