Last week, USA Volleyball had a record 247 athletes invited to participate in their open tryouts for the U.S. Women's National Team, U.S. Women's National A2 Program and U.S. Women's Junior National Team. The tryouts took place Feb. 22-24, in Sports Center II at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo. UCF juniors DeLaina Sarden and Kaye-Alese Green were among those that took part in three-day event. In addition to the athletes, UCF assistant coach Nicki Holmes was also invited as one of 15 court coaches. Here's what they experienced in their own words.

Day 1

Today was a day full of excitement and anxiousness. The trip began with an early flight from Orlando to Dallas and then on to snowy Colorado Springs. We wanted to catch every moment so we took lots of pictures. The dorms are very nice and the beds are comfy. Luckily, we were put together and it's was just the two of us in a room. The first session of tryouts went well and the nerves were immediately forgotten. The first session consisted of a quick hitting warm-up and scrimmaging with constant rotation and it involved a lot of high energy. Tomorrow we have physical testing and two more sessions after that. We've even made some friends along the way which has made the adjustment much easier. We haven't really experienced the altitude change so hopefully that carries into tomorrow. It's great having coach Nicki (Holmes) here with us to add a little more comfort.

Kaye and D signing out! Go Knights!

Day 2

Today was long and hard but so worth it. We had three sessions today. We started off first with physical testing; there was a velocity arm swing, block testing, arm reach, acceleration testing and pro-agility and approach height  We beasted it! We both touched at or above 10'6"!! The next session was a learning/drills session where the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team head coach Karch Kiraly taught us the USA blocking format, and offensive schemes. It was fun to learn some new skills and refine some we already had. The last session was all play. It was fast paced, and high energy. We were able to play each other and some of our old club rivals!  Today was phenomenal.

Signing out D and Kaye! Go Knights!

The Knights' men's basketball team will look to rebound from a close loss to Marshall in Huntington, West Virginia on Saturday afternoon. UCF will face the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, who haven't lost a conference game this season, on Wednesday night at the UCF Arena. Then on Saturday, the Knights will take on the East Carolina Pirates in the team's first rematch on its Conference USA schedule.

Senior Keith Clanton appears to be back to his dominate form after a 24 point performance against the Herd. The Orlando native remains in the top five in the conference for points per game (16.6) and rebounds per game (9.3).

On the women's side, the Knights will also be home this week to take on both Marshall and Memphis. Last time UCF faced the Tigers, the Knights came away with a 70-65 victory for their first Conference USA win of the season.

The women's track and field team continues to dominate. Over the weekend, sophomore sprinter Octavious Freeman was awarded the most valuable female performer award at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska. Freeman won both the 60 meter dash and the 200 meter dash.

Don't forget baseball season is quickly approaching. The Knights will open the season on Friday, Feb. 15^th against Siena. Get your season tickets right here at UCFAthletics.com.

For complete coverage of all UCF athletics, continue to check UCFAthletics.com.

Michelle Chatman, the assistant head coach of the women's volleyball team at UCF, was recently named an assistant coach for the Florida Wave.

Team Florida Wave is a women's professional volleyball team that was launched in 2012 by the Florida Region of USA Volleyball. According to their website, Team Florida Wave is a part of the new Premier Volleyball League, a league sanctioned by USA Volleyball. USA Volleyball consists of 40 different regions, so in the future they hope to have as many as 40 professional volleyball teams.

Chatman is in her fifth season with the UCF volleyball staff and her duties include being the program's recruiting coordinator as well as the middle blockers coach. Because of her hard work on the recruiting trail, UCF's 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes were named two of the top 100 recruiting classes in the nation each season by PrepVolleyball.com. Also, under her watch, UCF's front line has improved immensely, which was proven when DeLaina Sarden earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honors. Before coming to UCF, Chatman acted as an assistant coach at Georgetown University for two years and a student assistant coach at her alma mater, the University of Florida.

Chatman is no stranger to USA Volleyball. She served as one of the three assistant coaches for the 2011 USA Volleyball Women's National A2 program.

Chatman will coach former UCF standout Tanya Jarvis, who earned a spot on the roster last season.

Team Florida Wave's first game is the Tri-Match tournament in Gainesville on March 2 against UCF and FSU.

As a four-year starter for the Knights, Tanya Jarvis along with her teammates made three-consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 2001-03. At the same time, Jarvis showed off her two-way ability as a player by finishing in the top 10 all-time in UCF history in both kills and digs.

A true student of the game, the 2004 team captain knew that once her collegiate playing days ended her passion for the sport would lead her to coaching. Jarvis immersed herself in teaching the game fresh out of college and is the head volleyball coach at Bishop Moore Catholic High School. Jarvis also maintains a volunteer assistant position at Rollins College in Winter Park, where junior middle blocker Camille Indest was just named the Division II National Player of the Week.

Indest was seasoned as a younger player at the Orlando Volleyball Academy, where she was coached extensively by Jarvis. Jarvis has managed a top coaching position with one of the nation's most competitive junior programs for the last 10 years.

With Jarvis at the head of the program, Bishop Moore compiled a 72-19 mark in her first three seasons, winning the district championship each year. This year the Hornets have taken things to the next level and are currently the No. 1 ranked team in the nation after an impressive 15-0 start.

Bishop Moore will put its undefeated record and national ranking on the line when it squares off against Dr. Phillips on Tuesday night and Apopka on Thursday night.

Orlando Sentinel: Bishop Moore's girls volleyball is the best in the nation

Redshirt freshman Kayla Keller exploded on the scene last September as a true freshman when she recorded a 12 kills, 13 digs double-double in her first ever college match vs. then-No. 3 USC. Keller earned a starting role at outside hitter and was on the road to stardom before an ankle injury prematurely derailed her promising freshman season after just 12 matches and earned her a medical redshirt.

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Keller worked hard to rehab her injury and come back better than ever. She recorded a 13 kill, 13 dig double-double against Fairfield on Sept. 8 and set a new career high in digs with 15 against Dartmouth later that same day. Known primarily a skilled offensive player, Keller has made great strides as a defender as she leads all non-defensive Knights in digs per set with 2.03.

Off the court, like many of her non-Florida native teammates, Keller can handle the Florida heat, but dislikes the summer rain storms. She also enjoys local hibachi restaurant Kyoto and scary movies at the theater.

Make sure to tune in every week to get to "Know Your Knights"  

Freshman setter Dana Faught, who came up just short in a fierce preseason camp battle for the lead setter spot, has steadily impressed the Knights' coaches in practice and earned more playing time. Faught, who has now made two starts and got the nod in the Knights' most recent match, set new-career highs with 34 assists and 8 digs in a five-set thriller against Fairfield.

A native of Round Rock, Texas, Faught had no idea that she would be returning home to play less than a month into her first semester of college. With all of her friends and family planning to be in attendance, Faught will look to impress against the Knights' only two nationally-ranked opponents and only nationally televised match of the season.

While she has excelled on the court, Faught has fallen victim to the Florida humidity and the summer rain showers on numerous occasions thus far off the court. She does not even bother doing her hair in the mornings anymore because she knows the humidity and the rain will likely just ruin it.

Make sure to tune in every week to get to "Know Your Knights"  

It was a long time coming for redshirt sophomore Loren Cory who saw the first action of her UCF career as she played in all three matches this past weekend at the Holiday Inn Select/UCF Classic. Cory impressed in eight total sets as she hit a tremendous .458 en route to picking up 12 kills.

Home is always a place where teams feel more comfortable and the UCF women's volleyball team got a nice boost playing in front of a home crowd Friday. The Knights went 2-0 on the first day of the Holiday Inn Select/UCF Classic.

The Knights also got a boost from junior Angelica Crump. The outside hitter recorded 27 kills in the Knights' victories against Columbia and Jacksonville.

"She really is starting to come into her own," UCF head coach Todd Dagenais said. "We're starting to develop more of a supporting cast around her, where we don't need to depend on her each night.

"Her attacking and her blocking really give us that muscle we need on a night-in and night-out basis," Dagenais added.

Crump was also named to the All-Tournament team at USF last weekend. Her performance in that tournament carried over to Friday and UCF benefitted with victories. 

"It's really important that we win at home," Crump said. "It definitely helps [motivate the team] because we play hard in front of friends. It's real exciting to see the fans and see them keep coming back." 

Crump was an AVCA Honorable Mention All-America Performer last season and was a first-team All-Conference USA selection. But she is working hard to receive higher honors this year.

"I would definitely like to make it on one of the top two [All-American] teams," Crump said. "An honorable mention was great, but I want to progress and make it on one of the top teams this time."

The UCF women's volleyball team will close out the Holiday Inn Select/UCF Classic Saturday night at 7 p.m. against Liberty.

UCF redshirt sophomore Marie Reiterova is off to a sizzling start on the court for the Knights, picking up double-doubles in each of the team's first three matches and dishing out the most assists (64) in a single contest by a Knight since 2008.

A year removed from game action after redshirting in 2011, Reiterova worked hard in spring practices and camp into preseason came with one goal in mind, to earn the lead setter position. A fierce competition ensued between Reiterova and freshman Dana Faught that was eventually won by

Off the court, Reiterova is quiet and hardworking, but finds time to enjoy American-style foods like BBQ and pizza while also sharing laughs with teammate Roxy Mendez.

A native of Luxembourg, Reiterova speaks six different languages (Luxembourgish, French, German, Spanish, Czech and English), but finds American slang to be the most difficult to master.

Make sure to tune in every week to get to "Know Your Knights"  

With the 2012 regular season kicking off in just two days, UCF volleyball coach Todd Dagenais sat down with UCFAthletics.com and gave his thoughts about each position on the roster.

SETTERS - 2011 saw Rachel Vukson record the best season in school history during the rally scoring era with 1,377 assists en route to being named an AVCA All-American. In 2012, the Knights will look to redshirt sophomore Marie Reiterova and freshman Dana Faught to replace Vukson. Reiterova impressed the coaching staff during preseason camp with her ability to limit mistakes and set attackers up accurately and she will open the season as the lead setter. Faught is working hard to get up to game speed and will likely see more time as the season progresses.

MIDDLE BLOCKERS - The Knights will bring back all three of their top middle blockers from 2011 making this unit arguably the strongest on the team. Senior Tory McCutcheon is back after leading the team in attack percentage and block assists last season. Sophomore DeLaina Sarden will look to build upon her Conference USA Freshman of the Year honors from a year ago as she led the team with 18 block solos. Redshirt sophomore Kaye-Alese Green has made significant strides over the last year and will push the two incumbents for starting time.

OUTSIDE HITTERS - Redshirt junior Angelica Crump returns after earning AVCA All-American honors in 2011. Crump led the offense in kills (499), kills per set (4.34), attempts (1,224) and points (529.5). Senior lefty Evija Vilde maintains her spot as the OPP after finishing last season with a career-high 382 kills, 205 digs, 50 blocks and 425 points. Sophomore Ashley Gianlenios and redshirt freshman Kayla Keller will provide scoring depth on the outside. Gialenios, who was called the "most improved player" from preseason camp, notched 110 kills, 89 digs, 44 blocks, four service aces and 140.5 points in a reserve role last season. Keller, who's 2011 season was cut short by injury, shined in the 2012 Black and Gold scrimmage and finished her freshman season playing in 38 sets with 119 kills (.222), 81 digs, 12 blocks and 134.5 points.

LIBEROS - The competition for starting libero was fierce, but senior Meredith Murphy came out on top after a strong camp. Murphy broke her own school record in 2011 in digs per set (4.48) after notching a career-high 515 for the season. She also owns 1495 career digs, second all-time at UCF behind Miriam Metzcus's 1,644. Murphy was pushed to the limit by fellow senior Dani Harrison who Dagenais called "our second starting libero". Harrison, a defensive specialist who played in every set in 2011, finished with 275 digs a season ago and will likely be called upon to maintain her high level of defensive effort. Junior Roxy Mendez has been worked at all three spots on the defensive backline and will likely see action every match. Freshmen Dani Jenkins and Kaci Thompson will provide depth as they continue to adjust to the speed of the college game.

Thursday was a busy day at The Venue for the UCF volleyball team. With the adjoining UCF Arena holding the Countdown to Kickoff Luncheon at the same time as practice No. 13, the hallways and balconies surrounding the volleyball courts were filled with football players and personnel, cheer and dance team members, staff from the athletic department and even Knightro himself made an appearance.

Head coach Todd Dagenais used this opportunity to teach his players a valuable lesson; adaptability.

With the areas surrounding the court filled with athletes and staff from other sports, background noise limited the amount of hands-on teaching Dagenais and the rest of the coaching staff could do. With practice time at a premium, rather than have a wasted practice, the coaches decided to turn a potentially negative situation into a positive one.

So the team decided to turn on the scoreboards, crank up the volume of the in-house stereo system and allow the team to go through a mock-game preparation before the final practice of preseason camp and the team's last intra-squad scrimmage.  

You can check out more behind-the-scenes looks from today's practice on our official Facebook team page: Don't forget to "like" us if you haven't already.

The players were put through their full pregame warmup routine, complete with 20-minute countdown clock. Just as they would for a regular season game, the players went into the hallway with nine minutes left on the clock for their own private team huddle and emerged with three minutes left ready for action. 

Dagenais stressed that he wanted to simulate as close to a real gameday experience for the players at Saturday's Black and Gold scrimmage.

The regular season will kick off in just 11 days against Creighton in the USF Invitational in Tampa on Aug. 24. The home opener takes place Aug. 31 as the team hosts Columbia in the Holiday Inn Select/UCF Classic.

Impressed with the UCF volleyball team's defense after nine preseason camp practices and its quality work during last Saturday's Black and Gold scrimmage, head coach Todd Dagenais and his coaching staff looked to change things up during practice #10. With just one full-team practice scheduled for Tuesday, Dagenais put the team through a series of service and receiving skills with the primary goal being to get better in the transition aspect of offense.

One of the biggest challenges facing the team during week one of camp was a lack of options offensively after receiving a serve. The coaches were looking for more quality digs from the back line, which would allow the setters to get their footwork into the best position possible for more accurate sets that would set up easier and more effective attacks from the hitters.

You can check out more behind-the-scenes looks from practice on our official Facebook team page: Don't forget to "like" us if you haven't already.

When attending practice, one of the first things that jumps out at you is how competitive the players are during the drills. The reason for that is the coaching staff fosters a very competitive environment through the "Knights Points" system. Every drill is treated like a competition and the top finisher in each drill earns points that are recorded at each and every practice. At the end of each semester, the leader in "Knights Points" is rewarded with an engraved dagger as a trophy and crowned "Queen of the Court". With just four more practices until the end of camp, I expect the battle to see who gets the dagger above their locker first to remain intense.

Read about the Knights' trip in the Daytona Beach News-Journal

By Todd Dagenais 

Each year, we try to do something unique to help with our team cohesion.  Last year, because we were a team that really "liked" each other, I wanted to bring out a more competitive side.  Therefore we went to a local paintball yard and had some good paintball wars.  We quickly found out who the competitors were, and we also found out who were the players that needed to compete harder or smarter.  They were the players bleeding from various spots on their body....lol.

This year, our entire team building program has been very carefully manufactured.  About two weeks ago I sent an email to the team telling them, "This pre-season training camp is about preparing a worthy champion.  It's going about taking a piece of raw iron and collectively hammering it into a finely crafted piece of steel ... forged by fire, shined by relentlessness, and sharpened into a deadly edge with discipline.  This pre-season will not be easy, but we will walk out of it worthy of sitting on a championship throne."

On Friday morning we held our annual photo session at 7:45am then immediately boarded the vans for a day trip up to the Pioneer Settlement north of Deland.  They have a working blacksmith shop up there run by a passionate young artist named Jordan Thomas.  Along with his colleague Leslie Sharp and brother Josiah Thomas, Jordan immediately started working with the players on the understanding the concept of metal work....starting with making the fire that will burn in excess of 2500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Obviously there is an inherent danger working with coal heated to this temperature, and with metal heated to a red or white hot glow.  This danger was very real, and had to be respected at all times.  I was very impressed with our intensity and focus, but found it very interesting when we started to get small careless burns as our mental focus waned.  It was a great lesson in maintaining our focus for a long period of time until we finish.

The team spent the morning learning how to heat the metal then pound it into basic shapes.  The first projects was to take a metal rod, heat it, then pound it into the pointed end.  From there they worked on pounding and twisting the metal into a decorative hook to hang on the wall.  It took close to 3 hours and putting the metal into the fire 15-20 times before this could be achieved.  All of this in 90 plus degree heat AWAY from the forging stations (nearly 110 close to them).

The UCF volleyball team took the court this weekend for the first Black and Gold scrimmage of the preseason. With just five practices under their belts, head coach Todd Dagenais expected to see some struggles and overall rough play. However the team, which is bringing back 10 letterwinners, showed they are ahead of expectations, in large part due to their experience.  Dagenais was particularly impressed with the defensive effort in the middle as the two squads combined for 21 blocks.

One of the coaching staff's biggest goals of this preseason camp is to find the team's next starting setter. Freshman Dana Faught and redshirt sophomore Marie Reiterova are both looking to replace AVCA All-American honorable mention Rachel Vukson who set the single-season school record for assists with 1,377. Both setters played two sets with each team so they could get valuable experience playing with every player on the roster. Faught finished the scrimmage with 49 assists, eight digs and one solo block. Reiterova tallied 44 assists, three digs and three solo blocks.

Former University of Florida All-American and current assistant head coach Michelle Chatman also took part in the team scrimmage as a member of the gold team. She finished the scrimmage with nine kills showing the young players that affectionately referred to her as "grandma" that she can still go.

"30 years old and she's still one of the best players in the gym," Dagenais said.

After four fast paced and energetic sets, Dagenais allowed the team to have some fun in the fifth and final game. The seniors were allowed to sit out and the younger players were put into random spots and were allowed to do things on the court they are not normally asked to do. Dagenais called it a reward for all the hard work the team put it during the week. 

Team photo day can mean many different things to players. Those feelings ring especially true to the athletes on the UCF volleyball team. For the Knights four seniors - Meredith Murphy, Evija Vilde, Dani Harrison, Tory McCutcheon - the moment was equal parts exciting and bittersweet. 

After shooting promotional spots for the UCF video services department, the four seniors decided to "hand stand" at attention for their final senior picture.

You can check out more behind-the-scenes looks from photo day on our official Facebook team page: Don't forget to "like" us if you haven't already.

Photo day was also the first opportunity to meet the new players on the Knights' roster.  Freshmen Dani Jenkins, Kaci Thompson and Dana Faught got their first official UCF pictures and got some good natured ribbing from their teammates after their family portrait style group shot. The moment was especially thrilling for Faught and Thompson as they are former high school teammates and close friends.

As photo day wrapped up, the team loaded into vans and hit the road for a team activity. We'll have pictures and video from this team-building experience later this week.

Tomorrow is a big day for the Knights as the team will play the first of two scheduled Black and Gold scrimmages. The intra-squad action takes place this Saturday at 3:30 in The Venue and is open to the public. 

Day 2 of UCF volleyball's preseason camp at The Venue opened up with a series of intense footwork drills led by strength and conditioning coach John Ellis. These drills helped head coach Todd Dagenais and his coaching staff stress the importance of having quick feet and low defensive positioning. 

 You can check out more photos from Day 2 of practice on our Facebook page: Don't forget to "like" us if you haven't already.

The most spirited portion of day 2 took place when the team was separated into two squads of seven. Each group of players had five minutes to knock 12 chairs out of play using just their serves. 

Team one exploded in celebration as they finished the drill with just three seconds remaining on the clock. Their jubilation would be short lived; however, as team two toppled their score by completing the drill with 29 seconds left on the clock.

We'll check back in with more tomorrow as the team has photo day in the morning as well as day 3 of practice as they continue to prepare for the first Black and Gold scrimmage that takes place this Saturday at 3:30 in The Venue.

The Knights had plenty to celebrate in their record-breaking 2011 campaign that saw them win 20 matches for the first time since 2003 and notch a program-best 12 wins in Conference USA. We will continue counting down the top-five moments from the 2011 season leading up to the Knights' 2012 opener against Creighton in the USF Invitational on Aug. 24 with No. 2: Freshmen Duo Dominates

Setting the Stage

Playing in a venue that no previous UCF team had won in before, the Knights knew their match with SMU inside Moody Coliseum would be no walk in the park. After dropping the first match of three on the road to end the regular season, a bounce back against the Mustangs would need to happen for the Knights to eye their 19th win of the season and keep their postseason chances alive.

By Nov. 20, freshmen DeLaina Sarden and Ashley Gialenios had asserted themselves as forces in the Knights' lineup. No longer were these rookies looked at as unproven youngsters, they were counted on to help UCF achieve its season-long goals. The epic showdown with SMU featured a little bit of everything, including a game-sealing block by the duo of Sarden and Gialenios.

Defining Moments

UCF raced out to an early 1-0 lead when it clinched the first set, 25-21. SMU promptly evened up the match with a 25-18 victory in the second stanza. The two teams went back and forth once again with UCF taking the third, 25-20, only to have the Mustangs respond with a 25-12 win in the fourth.

Pushed to a fifth set of the sixth and final time in 2011, UCF and SMU were tied at 2-2 before the Knights went on a 7-0 run fueled by Meredith Murphy on the serve. The Mustangs chipped away at the lead before tying it up at 13-all. With the first team to 15 points having the opportunity to win the match, every point was critical.

Tied at 16-all, Sarden gave the Knights their third match point when she smacked down her 13th kill of the day. After junior Evija Vilde served it up, SMU's Caroline Young tried to attack the freshmen duo only to be denied by Sarden and Gialenios and clinch the Knights' 19th win of the season.

Aside from the stellar play of the two freshmen, Angelica Crump smashed a career-high 24 kills while Rachel Vukson hoisted 52 assists and dug out 15 shots for her 15th double-double of the season. A total of four Knights registered double-digit digs, including Murphy who led the way with 17.

UCF found a way to win the match despite hitting under .200 for just the eighth time on the year (.116). Head coach Todd Dagenais was thrilled with his team's ability to win even when the offense isn't hitting for a high percentage.

"That was a classic example of really grinding it out," Dagenais said. "We didn't do a lot of pretty things. What we did do is just worked really hard. People are going to look at the stats and they will show that SMU won. I think the difference for us was that we had a ton of resolve. Literally, that last set could've gone either way. We just found a way to get a break and make a huge stunt-block play at the very end."

By Todd Dagenais - 7/24/12 - Blog Entry No. 3

Watch Team USA take on the Dominican Republic HERE. The match is set for 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday. 

Yesterday we finished the training phase of the USA High Performance experience and today we started to competition phase against a very talented Canadian Junior National team this morning. It was a really exciting match during the first two sets as we were able to win both 25-22 and 25-23. I opted to play some of the reserve players in the third set and we lost 25-11. It's a bummer because the reserves played well enough for us to win the third set,  but the remaining starters on the floor collectively had a poor set.  We went with the starting lineup in the fourth set and closed out the match to win 3-1.

Tonight we have the opening ceremony (I know...it seems kind of odd), and a wonderful buffet dinner is planned. We will play the Dominican Republic tomorrow in a match that could very well determine our overall finish in our pool of six teams.  They are clearly the best team in the pool, but we have a shot at taking them if we can keep our errors down and convert some serves into points.  For those that read the earlier blog...YES it's the same coaches and players as last year. Ding, ding...round two begins at 12:30 tomorrow!!!

We have moved into the Quality Inn for the rest of the experience. After 105 degree weather and no air conditioning, the Quality Inn seems like the Bellagio for us!

Michelle Chatman is also here coaching the USA Select National Team. These are the top Freshman and young Sophomores in the entire country. She is doing a fantastic job with them, and they also won their opening match.

UPDATE: We just beat the Dominicans in an epic five-game match. We are now 2-0 in our six-team pool and in firm control of our destiny. We will have a quick turnaround to play a 7:30 match against Iowa's JNT program. Being 2-0 allows us to get some other talented players on our roster some additional play time through the next three matches. 

If you watched online it was another pretty heated battle this time around, but none of the fireworks that we had last year between the benches and under the net. The Dominican coach actually came up and gave me a hug after the match.  Even through the intense rivalry, there is a great deal of respect as well. He promised that he would get me next time.  I told him "don't bet on it" ...we shared a quick laugh.

- UCF head volleyball coach Todd Dagenais is in Des Moines, Iowa for the 2012 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships, which are set to take place July 24-28 at the Iowa Events Center. 

UCF head volleyball coach Todd Dagenais is in Des Moines, Iowa for the 2012 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships, which are set to take place July 24-28 at the Iowa Events Center. 

The start of the 2012 UCF volleyball season is five weeks away, and what better time to look back at some of the defining moments from the 2011 season. 

The Knights had plenty to celebrate in their record-breaking campaign that saw them win 20 matches for the first time since 2003 and notch a program-best 12 wins in Conference USA. Over the next three weeks, we will continue counting down the top-five moments from the 2011 season leading up to the Knights' 2012 opener against Creighton in the USF Invitational on Aug. 24.

Setting the Stage

Heading into the weekend of Oct. 28, the Knights were at a cross roads in their season. Sitting at 5-6 in Conference USA and hosting Houston and Rice, UCF was in need of a weekend sweep to keep its season goals intact and raise its RPI against quality opponents.

With the Cougars arriving in Orlando for the first match, the Knights were looking to do something no other squad had previously done in school history: knock off Houston. UCF entered Sunday's match against Rice with a bit of history at stake again as it looked for its first season sweep of the Owls in program history.  

Defining Moments

UCF set the tone early in its Friday-night match with the Cougars, throttling the visitors, 25-11, in the first stanza. Evija Vilde blasted six of her game-high 18 kills to lead the Knights to a .443 attack percentage in the frame.

Houston fought back and won the second and third frames to take a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth. The Knights didn't back down as Vilde added six more kills, and freshman DeLaina Sarden and senior Rachel Vukson added five block assists to claim the set, 25-15.

In the fifth and deciding frame, the Knights never stepped off the gas to take the set, 15-5, and seal its first victory against Houston. The evening truly belonged to Vilde who connected on three-straight kills to open the frame, and as a team, the Black and Gold were successful on 8-of-9 attacks (.778) in the stanza.

After the victory over Houston, the Knights turned their focus immediately to the Owls for a Sunday afternoon match inside the raucous Venue. There would be no fifth set needed as UCF rebounded from a rare first-set loss to sweep the rest of the match in what was truly a team effort with each member of the squad chipping in.

Once the dust had settled, the Knights registered their first weekend sweep of the Houston schools, victories over teams with RPIs of 38 (UH) and 56 (Rice), a season sweep of Rice for the first time and 10 home victories for the first time since 2003.

"What a historic weekend for our volleyball program and all the effort that these players put into it, and also the alumni who laid the foundation for us to be able to come out and knock off two top-60 teams," head coach Todd Dagenais said after historic weekend sweep.

"Rice and Houston-- there is no doubt about it that they are two teams that we haven't had a lot of success against," Dagenais added. "To be able to sweep the weekend is big for us. We still hold out the dream that we will be on the board come Selection Sunday. We had to win two this weekend to be able to do it and I am really proud of the effort of the entire team."

The start of the 2012 UCF volleyball season is six weeks away, and what better time to look back at some of the defining moments from the 2011 season.

The Knights had plenty to celebrate in their record-breaking campaign that saw them win 20 matches for the first time since 2003 and notch a program-best 12 wins in Conference USA. Over the next four weeks, we will continue counting down the top-five moments from the 2011 season leading up to the Knights' 2012 opener against Creighton in the USF Invitational on Aug. 24.

No. 5: Volleybowl Sweep of Pitt

Setting the Stage

Looking for their first home win against Marshall since 2008, the Knights were in for another battle with the Thundering Herd on a truly unique night: 11-11-11. The stakes were also much higher with a potential NCAA berth on the line late in the season. UCF came into the match with a 16-10 record and was 8-7 in Conference USA play.

Aside from the possibility of securing for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, a 17th victory would also ensure the Knights of their best record since 2003 and avenge an early season loss in Huntington, W. Va., at the hands of the Thundering Herd.

Defining Moments

As they were accustomed to doing at home all year, the Knights raced out to an early lead, claiming the first set, 27-25, and the second, 25-21. Evija Vilde and sophomore Angelica Crump both posted six kills in the first frame to aid the squad to a .576 attack percentage.

UCF only allowed Marshall to connect on .190 percent of its attacks in the second set. Rachel Vukson had a strong all-around effort frame with 13 assists, four digs, and two block assists. For the second time in two matches, the Knights set their season-high in blocks, recording 18 in the contest.

The Herd wouldn't go away easily, storming back to claim the third set, 25-20, and the fourth stanza, 25-21. In the fourth, Marshall was able to rally from a 21-18 deficit with seven-consecutive points to send the match to a fifth set.

In the deciding fifth stanza, the Knights jumped out to 8-3 and 12-8 advantages before having their lead cut all the way down to 14-12. Crump's team-high 23rd and final kill was the deciding point in the contest. The All-C-USA First Teamer was joined by Vilde (16) and rookie DeLaina Sarden (19) in the double-digit kill column and Vukson ended the night with an astounding 62 of the team's 64 assists.

"This was another one of these epic battles between UCF and Marshall," head coach Todd Dagenais said after the victory. "It has been this way since I've been here and will probably always be this way. We prepared to go five games. I was really excited about our ability to compose ourselves after dropping two straight sets. The last time we played at Marshall we lost 3-0, but two of the games were decided by two points. Every time we play Marshall it's close. They are extremely well coached." 

The start of the 2012 UCF volleyball season is less than two months away, and what better time to look back at some of the defining moments from the 2011 season.

The Knights had plenty to celebrate in their record-breaking campaign that saw them win 20 matches for the first time since 2003 and notch a program-best 12 wins in Conference USA. Over the next five weeks, we will be counting down the top-five moments from the 2011 season leading up to the Knights' 2012 opener against Creighton in the USF Invitational on Aug. 24.

Setting the Stage

On the heels of five-consecutive wins in the early portion of its non-conference schedule, UCF took to the floor for its second match of the day in the Residence Inn/UCF Invitational. It was not your ordinary contest as the Knights were hosting BIG EAST foe Pittsburgh in Volleybowl IV.

A rowdy crowd of 891 fans packed The Venue and made for a tough environment for the Panthers. Just after 7 p.m., the Knights began their quest to even up their all-time record in Volleybowls at 2-2 in the first matchup all-time with Pitt.

Defining Moments

The Knights came out firing in the first set behind outside hitters Angelica Crump and Kayla Keller. The duo combined to hit better than .500 with 10 total kills, and finished the night with 13 and nine, respectively. UCF's stifling defense limited Pitt to a .079 attack percentage in the first frame.

The rowdy fans inside The Venue helped the Knights close out the second set after the Panthers came within three points of the home team. Two late errors by Pitt gave UCF the second frame as the squad swatted .342 and landed 18 kills.

UCF closed out the Panthers in the third set by holding them to only 13 points and a .029 hitting percentage. Junior Evija Vilde tallied five kills in the frame and finished the night with 11.

After the damage had been done, the squad nearly hit .300 (.297), totaled 41 kills on 39 assists and out dug Pitt, 53-36, in the sweep. Much of the Knights' success in the match came off of the serve as the team totaled seven service aces and had four players with service runs of four points or more.

Since head coach Todd Dagenais took over the program in 2008, he has always brought in a formidable opponent for Volleybowl. The much-anticipated matchups draw in plenty of fans, including droves of students, which Dagenais hopes will spark continued attendance and support.

"We do these Volleybowls to expose more people to volleyball and hopefully these people will come back and say `Hey you know what? That was kind of cool,'" said Dagenais. "We are trying to get some of these students exposed to the game so that we can build up this student section. Those who have never been to a match are missing out because it is where the action is."