Sept. 1, 2006
ORLANDO - The UCF volleyball team split at pair of matches at the UCF Arena on Friday, defeating Samford, 3-0 (30-16, 30-14, 30-14), and falling to Furman, 3-1 (30-26, 31-29, 24-30, 30-26), to open the UCF Classic. The Golden Knights (3-3) will conclude the event on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Utah Valley State.
The Golden Knights had little trouble against Samford (0-4) to open the tournament. The hosts hit .371 for the match, compared to .082 for the Bulldogs.
Junior outside hitter Schanell Neiderworder hit .424 for the match and had 19 kills. Senior setter Leah Alexander totaled 31 assists and freshman libero Tricia Scott recorded 21 digs.
UCF opened the match in strong fashion, hitting .486 in the first game. The Golden Knights improved to 12-0 all-time against the Bulldogs. Both programs are former members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Jackie Jaszcz paced Samford with 18 assists.
Against Furman (3-2), 17 kills from Neiderworder and 15 kills from junior outside hitter Lorin Lukas were not enough for the Golden Knights. Lukas had a double-double as she also totaled 13 digs. The Paladins totaled 16 team blocks, with Nicole Palazzo recording three solo blocks.
Alexander posted 35 assists in the losing effort and Scott had 19 digs. Senior middle blocker Jana Mitchell totaled seven block assists. UCF hit .104 for the match, while Furman had a .197 hitting percentage.
Chibuzo Aguocha registered 18 kills and Alison West had 11 kills for the Paladins. Courtney Stewardson recorded a match-high 40 assists.
In other action today, Utah Valley State posted a 3-2 (30-25, 23-30, 30-28, 23-30, 15-13) victory over Furman. The Wolverines also recorded a 3-0 (30-25, 30-20, 30-18) win against Samford.
On Saturday morning, Furman and Samford are set to meet at 11 a.m. Admission to all UCF volleyball matches is free courtesy of McDonald's.