Sept. 28, 2006
ORLANDO - The UCF volleyball team hosts Southern Miss for its fourth Conference USA match of the season on Friday at 4 p.m. at the UCF Arena. Admission to all UCF home contests is free courtesy of McDonald's.
The Golden Knights (5-9, 1-2 C-USA) lost 3-1 on Sunday against Tulsa in Oklahoma. Junior outside hitter Schanell Neiderworder (Aurora, Colo./Grandview HS) finished with 15 kills and 16 digs and senior outside hitter Maina Heming (Sao Leopoldo, Brazil) contributed with 10 kills. Freshman setter Andrea Youngblood (Castle Rock, Colo./Douglas County HS) totaled 41 assists in the loss.
Junior outside hitter Lorin Lukas (Winter Springs, Fla./Winter Springs HS) and sophomore middle blocker Jenny Heppert (Lawrence, Kan./Free State HS) both rank in the top-10 in the league for service aces per game. Lukas is also 14th nationally at 0.69 aces per game. Heppert is averaging 0.45 aces per game.
The two teams last met on Sept. 15 with UCF notching its first conference win of the year, 3-1. Heming had 20 kills and a hitting percentage of .545. Youngblood had 48 assists in the victory.
Southern Miss is 8-9 overall with a 1-2 conference record. The Golden Eagles own an overall 3-2 record on the road. On Sept. 25, senior libero Amanda Blunck was named defensive player of the week by the conference after totaling 44 digs in two matches. Junior middle blocker Morgan Johnson has helped pace the defense with 83 total blocks, averaging 1.30 per game. She ranks first in the league in total blocks and blocks per game.
UCF owns a 3-1 record against the Golden Eagles. The series is tied 1-1 in Orlando.
Live audio of the match is available at www.ucfathletics.com.
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.