Sept. 7, 2006
ORLANDO - The UCF volleyball team will face its toughest challenge of the young season this Friday and Saturday when it competes at the Campus USA Credit Union Classic in Gainesville. The Golden Knights will face sixth-ranked Florida on Friday at 7 p.m. and then conclude the event with a 12:30 p.m. match against Florida A&M on Saturday at the O'Connell Center.
UCF (3-4) will be facing a ranked team for the first time this season. The Golden Knights last met the Gators in 2003, falling to Florida in the second round of the NCAA Championship in Gainesville.
In 2006, UCF has been led by junior outside hitters Schanell Neiderworder and Lorin Lukas. Neiderworder paces the squad and ranks seventh in Conference USA, averaging 4.00 kills per game. Lukas has 19 service aces on the year, a mark that is good for fourth in the league. She tied a school single-match record with seven service aces against Utah Valley State at home last Saturday.
Senior middle blocker Jana Mitchell is tops in C-USA in blocks, averaging 1.33 per game. She ranks in UCF's top-10 in career block assists and total blocks.
Florida (4-1) took part in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic last weekend and went 2-1 at the event, including a sweep of No. 7 Hawaii.
Florida A&M is 0-4 this season. The Rattlers will open the tournament in Gainesville on Friday against Illinois State. UCF has a 21-3 edge in the all-time series with Florida A&M.
The Golden Knights trip to Gainesville will serve as a homecoming for head coach Meg Colado. Colado is a 1996 graduate of Florida and played under current head coach Mary Wise from 1992-95 and was a three-time All-Southeastern Conference selection. Colado is tied for second all-time at Florida in career matches played (144) and is in the top-10 in several other career categories.