TAMPA -- On Senior Day at the Corral, the Bulls needed a strong performance against Georgetown to punch their ticket to postseason play.
J'beria Davis delivered.
Davis posted a career-high .700 hitting percentage to lead USF past the Hoyas in straight sets on Sunday (25-15, 25-23, 25-22.) The senior outside hitter led the match with 14 kills to help her team secure the No. 6 seed in the Big East.
USF never trailed in the opening set, on the way to a commanding 25-15 win. The Bulls committed just two errors on their way to an outstanding .577 attack percentage in set one.
Georgetown pulled ahead twice early on in set two, but the Bulls rode a pair of Davis kills and one from Kayla Walton to take a 7-4 lead. USF would not trail for the remainder of the game.
The Bulls led by as much as seven in the second set, pulling ahead 20-13, but Georgetown kept it close down the stretch. A 6-2 run closed the gap to just three, and after a service error on Analee Abell put USF ahead 23-19, the Hoyas strung together three straight to make it a one-point game. Erin Fairs and Davis then teamed up for back-to-back kills to put the Bulls up two sets to none.
After being out-blocked 3-2 in the first two sets, USF stepped up at the net as well.
Andrea Rodriguez-Gomez led the charge with three block assists in the final set, as the Bulls posted four as a team in set three. USF came to match point at 24-17, and would be forced to stave off one final Georgetown rally. Three Hoyas kills and a pair of Bulls attack errors brought Georgetown to within three, before Fairs drove a powerful spike off the hands of Whitney Jencks to seal the sweep.
Fairs finished second in kills behind Davis, and fell just one short of a double-double. The freshman posted nine kills to go along with a team-high 10 digs. As a team, the Bulls pounded out an impressive .404 attack percentage.
Along with Davis, Jessica Burghart, Caitlyn Breen, Shelbey Bleke, and Claudia Cabrera were honored as part of Senior Day festivities before the game. Each of them saw time on the floor on Sunday.
At 7-8 in conference play, the Bulls finished in a three-way tie with St. John's and Pittsburgh. USF owns the tie-breaker over both the Red Storm and Panthers, allowing the Bulls to secure the No. 6 seed in the tournament.
The Bulls will open the Big East tournament on Friday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as USF will battle the No. 3 seed Notre Dame (13-2). The Bulls lost to the Irish in straight sets when the two teams squared off on October 28.