ORLANDO- The UCF volleyball team celebrated their seniors on Wednesday night by taking down Kansas State in five sets (10-25, 27-25, 25-27, 19-25, 15-11) inside The Venue.
The Knights (9-15, 2-13) tallied 11 total blocks and 63 kills compared to the Wildcats (10-14, 8-7) five blocks and 71 kills. Emily Wilson led the way for the Knights with 23 kills and 10 digs marking her third double-double of the season. Avah Armour added 16 kills and Alexia Kuehl followed, adding 10 of her own. Abby Schomers steered the offense dishing out 49 assists while Chloe Scheer took control of the defense racking up 22 digs, her fifth consecutive double-digit dig game.
Kansas State came out in set one with an intense offense, going up 7-1 to start. The Knights did their best to chip away at the Wildcats lead but back-to-back challenges won by K-State hindered the team’s effort, 13-3. The set got away from UCF quickly with a 6-0 scoring run from Kansas State putting them in a 13-point hole, 19-6. Although the Knights tacked on some extra points at the end, Kansas State took set one, 25-10.
Set two was a battle producing 11 tie-ups and six lead changes. A kill from Kuehl knotted the teams early at 4-4. The teams stayed close to each other until a kill from Wilson powered a four-point run and gave the Knights their first lead of the night at 9-7. The Wildcats made a run of their own to follow, taking the lead back, 10-9. K-State took control late in the set going up 16-21, but unwilling to give the set away UCF fought hard to get themselves back in the game with an ace from Kuehl putting them back within one, 21-20. Double kills from Heidi Bonde sent the Knights on another four-point scoring run evening the teams’ score again at set point 25-25. The Black and Gold’s persistence paid off, winning the second set, 27-25.
UCF and K-State traded points back and forth early in the third set, grappling for the lead. Bonde’s fifth kill of the night secured the Knights a four-point lead at 12-8. Back-to-back kills from Wilson and Armour only strengthened their lead to eight at 21-13. However, a five-point run late in the set from the Wildcats closed in on the score gap back down to just three, 21-18. The Wildcats kept their momentum going ultimately taking the third set, 27-25.
The Black and Gold grabbed the lead early in set four with a block solo from Schomers putting them up by three, 6-3. The teams stayed within three points of each other until a four-point run, propelled by a blocking duo of Kuehl and Bonde stretched the Knights’ lead to six, 15-9. In a similar sequence to the last set, the Wildcats fought back to get back in the game shutting down the Knights’ strong offense scoring seven points against UCF’s three, leaving them down by only two points, 18-16. In the end, triple kills from the Knights assisted them in earning the set win, 25-19.
The Knights dominated the final set from the jump with two kills from Wilson to set the tone, 3-2. Kuehl followed with back-to-back kills of her own and a kill from Schomers set the score to 8-4 at the time of the side change. UCF continued to command the final set, keeping its lead steady at 7-11. The final four points of the game all came from kills put down by Wilson handing the Knights both the set and the game, 15-11.
The Knights head to Gainesville for an in-state matchup against No. 21 Florida Saturday evening with first serve slated for 4:30 p.m.