Sept. 15, 2006
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The UCF volleyball team opened Conference USA play in strong fashion on Friday evening, recording a 3-1 (22-30, 30-23, 30-23, 31-29) win over host Southern Miss at the Payne Center. Senior outside hitter Maina Heming (Sao Leopoldo, Brazil) paced the Golden Knights (4-6, 1-0 C-USA) with a season-high 20 kills.
Southern Miss fell to 6-7 and 0-1 with the loss. The Golden Knights were playing outside of the state of Florida for the first time this season.
UCF struggled in game one, recording just eight kills with eight attack errors for a .000 hitting percentage. The team rebounded, hitting .333 in game two and then matching the mark in game three.
Junior outside hitter Lorin Lukas (Winter Springs, Fla./Winter Springs HS) had a double-double in the winning effort with 14 kills and 11 digs. Lukas also totaled three service aces. Heming hit .545 for the contest.
Freshman setter Andrea Youngblood (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County HS) registered a season-best 48 assists. UCF recorded nine total team blocks and sophomore middle blocker Jenny Heppert (Lawrence, Kan./Free State) posted seven block assists.
UCF improved to 3-0 against Southern Miss under head coach Meg Colado.
Stevi Cherry led the Golden Eagles with 15 kills and Angela Hlavaty added 11 kills. Cassie Lavery had a team-high 30 assists. Southern Miss hit .143 for the match, compared to .226 for the Golden Knights.
The Golden Knights are slated to face Troy in Hattiesburg on Saturday at noon Eastern. For the latest news and information on the Golden Knights, tickets or apparel, log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF athletics.