Sept. 15, 2005
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ORLANDO - Looking for its third-consecutive victory, the UCF volleyball team heads west on I-4 on Friday to face USF in Tampa. First serve at The Corral is slated for 7 p.m.
The Golden Knights enter the contest with a 2-4 mark while USF (0-7) is seeking its first victory of the season.
ABOUT UCF The Golden Knights enter the match with a two-contest winning streak. UCF has not played since Sept. 9, when it topped host Bethune-Cookman, 3-0 (30-21, 30-15, 30-16). On the season, junior outside hitter Maina Heming is leading the squad, averaging 3.00 kills per game. Junior middle blocker Jana Mitchell has recorded double-digits in kills in four of six matches on the year.
Junior setter Leah Alexander paces the Golden Knights, registering 7.31 assists per game while senior libero Katie Kohnen is tops in digs (3.75). Both senior middle blocker Chaz Arah and sophomore outside hitter Schanell Neiderworder have posted 17 total blocks.
Head coach Meg Colado is in her seventh season at UCF. She has a 128-86 (.598) overall coaching mark and is 113-70 (.617) with the Golden Knights.
ABOUT USF The Bulls will be seeking their first win of the year when they face UCF. USF dropped its seventh-straight match to start the season on Wednesday, falling to host Florida State, 3-1 (23-30, 30-22, 30-25, 30-28). A pair of USF players recorded double-doubles in the match. Sophomore middle blocker Kristina Fabris tallied 21 kills and 11 digs and sophomore outside hitter Michelle Stalbaum had 11 kills and 12 digs. USF coach Claire Lessinger is in her second season at the helm of the Bulls and enters the contest with a 9-27 career record.
UCF AGAINST THE BULLS USF holds a 40-22 edge in the all-time series. The squads last met a year ago in Orlando, with the Golden Knights taking a 3-1 (30-28, 28-30, 30-21, 32-30) win on Sept. 24. Under Meg Colado, UCF is 2-3 against the Bulls. The Golden Knights have won the last two series meetings and will be facing a BIG EAST squad for the first time since 2002 (Seton Hall).
DOUBLE-DIP FOR HEMING Junior outside hitter Maina Heming has been seeing double as of late. In her last two matches, Heming has recorded double-doubles. At Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 9, she recorded 12 kills and a career-best 16 digs. At the Diet Coke Classic versus North Dakota State on Sept. 3, Heming totaled her first double-double as a Golden Knight with 12 kills and 12 digs.
NICE DEBUT Junior outside hitter Vesna Ukic, a junior college transfer, made her UCF debut against Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 9. Ukic was solid in her first match with the Golden Knights, tallying seven kills, six digs and one block.
UCF SIDELINES At 6-2, junior college transfer Vesna Ukic is the tallest outside hitter to play at UCF under head coach Meg Colado... Kohnen and Jana Mitchell have been selected by the coaching staff as team captains... Due to construction at Bethune-Cookman's Moore Gymnasium, UCF's Sept. 9 contest versus the Wildcats was played on the campus of Embry-Riddle University in Daytona Beach.
ON DECK UCF makes its 2005 home debut on Sept. 20 against former Atlantic Sun rival, Florida Atlantic... The Golden Knights lead the all-time series, 25-6. UCF is 12-2 in Orlando versus the Owls... Under head coach Meg Colado, the Golden Knights are 10-2 in matches against FAU... In the 2004 meeting, the Owls claimed a 3-1 (28-30, 30-28, 30-21, 30-27) contest at UCF... The Golden Knights have won 10 of the last 12 matches in the series.