ORLANDO – The Knights will host their final Big 12 home match of the inaugural season as they honor the seniors on Saturday, Nov. 18 against No. 5 Texas at 2 p.m.
The Matchup
- The Knights will face off against No. 5 Texas for the first time since 2014 as they host the Longhorns on Saturday for Senior Knight.
- The last matchup between the Knights and Longhorns was in the Texas Invitational Sept. 13, 2014, at the time Texas was ranked No. 2 and won 3-0.
- Texas heads into the match with a 3-0 record over UCF.
- Due to Texas leaving the Big 12 next year for the SEC, this will be the first and only conference matchup between the two teams.
- UCF headed into the tough slate of its schedule starting with Kansas State on Saturday, Oct. 14. As the remaining opponents were ranked above UCF in the Big 12 preseason rankings.
- No. 5 Texas marks the fifth ranked opponent for the Knights this season which ties the 2021 season.
- The last four matches for UCF have been against teams that are ranked in the top 25.
Scouting Texas
- The Longhorns head into the matchup with a 20-4 record and are on a two-game winning streak.
- Head coach Jerritt Elliott is in his 23rd season with Texas as he was hired in the spring of 2001.
- As a team, Texas is ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 with 2.93 blocks per set and a .275 hitting percentage.
- Asjia O’Neal leads the Longhorns with 1.52 blocks per set and is ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 along with a hitting percentage of .403.
- The Longhorns won their seventh-consecutive Big 12 Championship on Wednesday in a 3-1 win over Iowa State.
Farewell to our Seniors
- The Knights will honor three seniors on Saturday including Claudia Dillon, Abby Hansen and Lauren Clark.
- This is the first class in program history where all of them came to UCF from another college.
- Dillon (Mizzou) has spent the last three seasons at UCF where she has been a two-time AAC first team honoree.
- Hansen (Oregon) is on her second season at UCF where last season she was named to AAC First Team and this season on the Big 12 Preseason Team.
- Clark (Penn State/FGCU) joined the Knights this season as a graduate transfer.
Double-Trouble Trio
- Three Knights have recorded double-doubles this season led by Emily Wilson with eight followed by Abby Schomers with six and Avah Armour with two.
- Wilson and Armour each produced a double-double in the first match of the season against Navy.
- As a setter, Schomers dished out 46 assists and 11 digs to mark her first double-double of her career against Mississippi State.
Taking Big Steps in the Big 12
- The Knights started out their inaugural season in the Big 12 with a 7-0 start.
- UCF opened Big 12 play with a familiar foe, Cincinnati, as the Knights and Bearcats moved to the Big 12 conference this season from the American Athletic Conference.
Ace it up
- Currently ranked No. 8 in the NCAA for aces per set with an average of 2.00 per set.
- Emily Wilson is ranked among the top 30 for aces per set at No. 28 with .47.
- Against North Texas, the Knights came out strong with the serves firing a season-high 15 aces.
- So far this season, the Black and Gold have recorded eight games in double digits for aces.
Knight in Shining Armour
- Headlined by 10 matches with double digits in kills along with a career-high of 17 kills against Cincinnati (9/21).
- Armour has recorded two double-doubles this season one in the first non-conference matchup (Navy 8/25) along with another one in the first Big 12 match (Cincinnati 9/21).
Ace and Double-Double Queen
- Emily Wilson is ranked No. 1 in service aces per set (0.47) and total service aces (43) in the Big 12 standings.
- In the most recent matchup against Oklahoma, Wilson recorded a career-high six service aces in the 3-1 win.
- Wilson leads the team with eight double-doubles this season and has recorded 18 matches with double digits in kills.
Knights in the Rankings
- UCF is ranked in four categories in the top 100 of the NCAA.
- 8th: 2.00 aces per set
- 38th: 0.259 hitting %
- 39th: 188 team service aces
- 84th: 0.654 match w-l %
5-0 Start
- Headlined by a 5-0 start, head coach Jenny Maurer became the first UCF head coach in the DI Era to start the season 5-0 in their first season as head coach.
- Three Knights were named to the UAlbany All-Tournament Team: Abby Hansen (MVP), Abby Schomers and Avah Armour.
- Claudia Dillon earned the All-Tournament team for the UCF Challenge.
The Jenny Maurer Era
- Jenny Maurer was named head coach of UCF volleyball in May 2023.
- She is no stranger to UCF as she has been a member of the coaching staff since 2016.
- Her resume includes nine years as a Division I head coach --Lehigh (4) and Bradley (5).
- Two-time DIII National Champion (1995 and 1996) as a player at Washington University in St. Louis.
Rounding Out The Staff
- Maurer added two associate head coaches to her staff along with a volunteer assistant.
- Jason Tanaka, a 25-year collegiate coaching veteran with Big 12 experience (Baylor, TCU).
- Michaela Franklin, former Big 12 volleyball champion (Kansas State) and nationally recognized recruiter.
- Tyler Hubbard-Neil, a former professional volleyball player joins the staff as a volunteer assistant.
- Erin Olson stays on the staff as the Director of Operations.
Calling All Newbies
- The Knights have added a total of seven newcomers to the roster.
- Four of those are freshmen and the other three are transfers.
- The freshmen include Avah Armour, Annika Sokol, Sasha Cohen and Doga Ocal.
- Three out of the four freshmen are from Colorado and Ocal is from Turkey.
- The transfer trio includes Lauren Clark (FGCU/ Penn State), Britt Carlson (Washington State) and Megan Holland (South Carolina).
Bringing ‘Em Back
- The Knights return eight from the previous season.
- Key returners for UCF include Abby Hansen, Claudia Dillon, Chloe Scheer, Emily Wilson, Katelyn Grimes and Heidi Bonde who all saw playing time last year.
Reppin’ the Swoosh
- UCF Athletics has renewed its contract with Nike.
- A new five-year deal keeps Nike as the official apparel and footwear provider of the Knights through the 2028-29 academic year.
- UCF will continue to work directly with Nike as the official supplier of uniforms, equipment and apparel for UCF Athletics.
- “As a Nike school since 2010, UCF has experienced tremendous growth with this partnership, and we will continue to elevate in the Big 12 Conference,” says UCF vice president and director of athletics Terry Mohajir.
- “Nike has allowed us to innovate and enhance our brand among some of the best in the country. We look forward to our direct collaboration with our partners at Nike and their renewed commitment and belief in UCF Athletics.”
New Kids On The Block
- UCF officially joined the Big 12 Conference on July 1, 2023.
- The Knights enter the Power 5 as the youngest school, having been founded in 1963 to supply NASA with engineers.
- UCF joined the conference with Cincinnati, Houston and BYU to push the conference to 13 volleyball programs.
- The Knights were ranked No. 9 in the Big 12 preseason poll.
- In the AVCA poll, there are eight Big 12 schools that are ranked or receiving votes.
European Tour
- UCF enjoyed a successful foreign tour this summer after visiting the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy playing six matches against international opponents.
- Traveling from Orlando to Czech Republic, the team began its trip in Prague, walking around Old Town and the city.
- While in Prague, the Knights played back-to-back matches against the Czech national team.
- A short trip to Brno, where UCF played the U22 Brno team along with touring in the downtown area.
- Sightseeing in Budapest featured the Buda Castle, the Parliament building and the Danube.
- Kicking off its time in Maribor, UCF held a clinic for about 30 youth, presenting a further opportunity to get to know the local people and share some of the team’s volleyball knowledge and skills.
- Outside of the team’s two matches in Slovenia, the Knights rode a ski lift up part of the mountain to ride the alpine slide down the mountain and went for a bike ride to the city center of Maribor. For dinner, the team took a gondola up Pohorje Mountain on top of the mountain.
- UCF took a pit stop in Lake Bled, Slovenia for a few hours on the way to Italy which included a gondola ride to the church in the middle of the lake, swimming and enjoying the famous Lake Bled cake.
- Once in Italy, the Black and Gold checked out the amenities at the resort which included multiple pools and a hot spring. The team concluded their trip in Venice with a full day of sightseeing.
Home Court Advantage
- UCF reached a 22-match home win streak from Oct. 10, 2021 – Sept. 2, 2023.
- The Knights boasted a 13-0 record at home in 2022.
- UCF has only lost four games at home in the past three seasons.
- In 2022, the Black and Gold won the AAC Championship at home in a five-set thriller against Houston for a share of the championship title.
- With the move into the Big 12, season tickets have been selling like crazy.
- The Knights have sold a record number of season tickets.