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\nCLEARWATER, Fla., April 17, 2026\u00a0\u2013 South Florida Beach Volleyball opened the Gulf Front Invitational with a pair of tough losses, falling to RV FGCU and No.13 LSU on day one in Clearwater.\u00a0
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\nRV FGCU 3, South Florida 2
\nSouth Florida dropped a narrow 3-2 decision to FGCU in a tightly contested dual.<\/p>\n
On court two, Zoey Mitchell<\/a> and Isabella Almeida<\/a> delivered a dominant performance, winning in straight sets, 21-18, 23-21. FGCU tied the dual with a win on court four, edging out a close opening set before pulling away late, 22-20,21-15.\u00a0\u00a0 Follow USF Beach Volleyball About USF Beach Volleyball \u2013\u00a0#GoBulls\u00a0\u2013
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\nThe Eagles extended their lead with a win on court one, securing a 21-10, 21-12 victory. On court five, FGCU secured the dual with another win, 21-16, 21-19.\u00a0
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\nSouth Florida battled on court three, earning a gritty three-set win to close out the dual. The Bulls earned the point with a 21-18, 17-21, 15-11 victory.\u00a0
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\nNo.13 LSU 5, South Florida 0
\nOn court two, Julia Panko<\/a> and Cornelia Crudu<\/a> fell in straight sets, while Morgan Anderson<\/a> and Abigail Lagemann<\/a> dropped their match on court three.\u00a0
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\nTereza Lajkebov\u00e1 and Kate Stewart<\/a> delivered one of the tighter contests of the day on court five, but ultimately came up just short, 21-19, 21-16.\u00a0
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\nOn court one, LSU was awarded the point via forfeit. The most competitive showing came on court four, where the Bulls pushed the match to three sets. LSU pulled away in the third set to secure the sweep.\u00a0
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\nUP NEXT
\nSouth Florida will continue day two of the Gulf Front Invitational, Saturday April 18 when they take on No.5 FSU at 10:15am and Mercer at 2:00pm. The Bulls will honor their four seniors at 1:45pm, prior to the match against Mercer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nFollow USF Beach Volleyball on\u00a0X<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for all the latest information concerning the USF Beach Volleyball program.<\/p>\n
\nThe University of South Florida Beach Volleyball program is the newest program in the now 21-team USF Athletics program. South Florida Beach Volleyball joined Conference USA on July 1, 2025. Pri Piantadosi-Lima<\/a> was named South Florida’s first-ever beach volleyball head coach on June 6, 2023. She also serves as the head coach of USAV Beach and the national team development program and was honored as the 2022 USA Volleyball Female Junior Coach of the Year. Before joining South Florida, Piantadosi-Lima helped launch the Eckerd College program in 2015 as an assistant coach and helped lead the program to its first AVCA national championship and two consecutive NCAA championship podium finishes.<\/p>\n
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