Aug. 26, 2006
ORLANDO - The UCF volleyball team concluded play at its season-opening tournament on Saturday, dropping a pair of matches at the UCF Arena. The Golden Knights (1-2) fell to Florida International, 3-0 (30-21, 30-28, 30-25), to close the UCF Fall Invitational. UCF also lost to BYU, 3-0 (30-25, 30-16, 30-18).
Against the Golden Panthers (2-1), junior outside hitter Lorin Lukas totaled 13 kills and eight digs for UCF. Fellow junior outside hitter Schanell Neiderworder recorded 11 kills. Making her first collegiate start, freshman setter Andrea Youngblood had 32 assists.
UCF hit .116 for the match, while Florida International posted a .298 hitting percentage. Yarimar Rosa (16 kills, 11 digs) led the Golden Panthers and Olga Vergun registered 15 kills. Keila Oliveira had a match-high 37 assists and 16 digs.
In UCF's contest against BYU, the hosts struggled, hitting just .175 in the opening game and -.097 in the third game. The Cougars hit .326 overall and .517 in the second game. The squad recorded 11 total team blocks.
Neiderworder paced the Golden Knights with eight kills and 11 digs. Tournament MVP Erica Lott recorded a match-high 15 kills in the winning effort.
In other tournament action on Saturday, event champion BYU claimed a 3-0 (30-13, 30-20, 30-25) win against Stetson. Florida International breezed to a 3-0 (30-13, 30-18, 30-20) victory over Stetson.
Lott was joined on the all-tournament squad by Neiderworder, Rosa, Oliveira, BYU's Lindsey Hartsock and Stetson's Gina Iacona.
The Golden Knights return to action on Tuesday, visiting North Florida for a 7 p.m. match in Jacksonville.