Nov. 10, 2005
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HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The UCF volleyball team will conclude its 2005 Conference USA schedule on Friday, facing host Southern Miss. First serve at the Payne Center is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern.
The Golden Knights (7-16, 5-10 C-USA) will be playing away from home for the first time since Oct. 30. Southern Miss enters the match with a 6-17 overall mark and an 0-13 league record.
ABOUT UCF The Golden Knights dropped a hard-fought 3-2 (25-30, 33-31, 30-31, 26-30, 15-12) non-league match at home to North Florida on Tuesday evening. In game five, UCF hit just -.176 as a team. Junior setter Leah Alexander had 59 assists in the losing effort and sophomore libero Alesha Busch recorded a career-best 14 digs. In 2005, junior outside hitter Maina Heming leads the team, averaging 3.04 kills per game.
UCF is well represented among the Conference USA statistical leaders. Junior middle blocker Jana Mitchell is fifth in the league in blocks per game (1.09). Sophomore outside hitter Schanell Neiderworder is eighth in blocks per game, averaging 1.03, and freshman middle blocker Jenny Heppert ranks 10th (1.02). Heppert's 0.55 assists per game rank fourth in the league. Head coach Meg Colado is in her seventh season at UCF. She has a 133-98 (.576) overall coaching mark and is 118-82 (.590) with the Golden Knights.
ABOUT SOUTHERN MISS The Golden Eagles will be looking for their first C-USA win of the season when they face UCF. Southern Miss has lost seven matches in a row and is 1-7 at home this year. On Monday, the Golden Eagles dropped a 3-0 (30-16, 30-22, 30-26) contest to visiting Florida A&M. The Rattlers hit .379 for the match, compared to just .155 for Southern Miss. Stevi Cherry led the hosts with nine kills. Head coach Ricci Luyties is 13-37 in his second year at Southern Miss.
UCF AGAINST THE GOLDEN EAGLES The Golden Knights lead the all-time series, 3-0. The teams have never met at Southern Miss. On Sept. 27, UCF won its inaugural C-USA match against the Golden Eagles, 3-1 (27-30, 30-20, 30-19, 30-19), at home. Junior outside hitter Maina Heming had a double-double with 15 kills and 16 digs. Junior setter Leah Alexander posted 42 assists in the victory. Ashley Petrinec paced Southern Miss with 19 kills and 11 digs.
ACES ALL AROUND Against North Florida on Tuesday, UCF recorded 15 service aces. The 15 aces tied for ninth on UCF's single-match register. Sophomore middle blocker Schanell Neiderworder finished with six aces and freshman middle blocker Jenny Heppert totaled four aces. Junior outside hitter Vesna Ukic and sophomore libero Alesha Busch both posted a pair of aces.
ON DECK UCF concludes the regular season schedule on Sunday, hosting Florida Atlantic for a non-league match at 1 p.m. at UCF Arena. The match was originally slated for Sept. 20, but was postponed due to Hurricane Rita... The Golden Knights lead the all-time series, 25-6. The two squads are former Atlantic Sun Conference rivals. The Owls are spending their final season in the A-Sun before moving to the Sun Belt... UCF is 12-2 at home versus Florida Atlantic. Under head coach Meg Colado, the Golden Knights have won 10 of 12 matches with the Owls. In the 2004 meeting, Florida Atlantic claimed a 3-1 (28-30, 30-28, 30-21, 30-27) contest in Orlando. The Golden Knights have won 10 of the last 12 series meetings.