Sept. 13, 2008
MIAMI, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Stephanie Serna (San Antonio, Texas), Janine Williams (Gainesville, Fla.) and Erin Campbell (Kansas City, Mo.) combined for 33 kills to lead the Knights to its second sweep in its last three matches, with a, 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-23), win over Oral Roberts Saturday morning at the FIU Arena. Serna paced the Knights with 12 kills, while Williams and Campbell added 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
The win improved UCF's record to 5-5 on the season and 1-1 in the FIU Invitational, while the Golden Eagles fell to 6-3 on the year and 1-1 in the event.
Lauren Rosenthal (Colorado Springs, Colo.) efficiently ran the Knights' offense in the win, putting up a match-high 36 assists and added a career-high three block assists. Also contributing three blocks was senior Jenny Heppert (Lawrence, Kan.) who recorded two block assists and a block solo.
Defensively, libero Kathleen Curry (Geneva, Fla.) paced UCF with a match-leading 19 digs, while junior Melissa Reinders (Winter Park, Fla.) posted 11 digs and added a career-high five service aces.
UCF trailed the Golden Eagles for most of the first set, before the Knights evened the match, 21-21, forcing Oral Roberts to take a timeout. A 3-0 run by the Knights put them ahead, 24-22, but ORU muscled back to tie the game, 24-24. A kill by Williams gave the Knights a one-point advantage, before Reinders' service ace sealed the win for the Black and Gold, 26-24.
UCF's squad carried its momentum into set two to go up on Oral Roberts, 11-4, and never looked back. The Golden Eagles tied the game, 13-13, at one point, but the Knights held on for the win, never trailing the entire set.
The momentum stayed with the Black and Gold into the final set as it went up early on Oral Roberts and once again never gave up its lead, taking a 25-23 win from the Golden Eagles and sweeping the match.
The Knights resume play in the FIU Invitational later today with a 5 p.m. match against Penn.
Season tickets for UCF's 2008 volleyball campaign at The Venue are currently available by calling the UCF athletics ticket office at 407-UCF-1000. For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
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