Sept. 2, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Junior Erin Campbell (Kansas City, Mo.) posted a match-high 10 kills, despite the UCF volleyball team falling to visiting No. 3 Stanford, 3-0 (13-25, 17-25, 14-25), Tuesday night in front of a capacity crowd at The Venue at UCF. With the loss, the Knights even their record at 2-2, while the Cardinal improves to 2-1.
"We just came out with an idea that we had nothing to lose," Campbell said. "We made little errors, but the ones we made were just little tweaks that need to be corrected. Us being able to compete with them really showed that we are a good team, and that if we fix the errors we can do well."
The match versus the Cardinal marked the opening of The Venue at UCF and the first home game for the Knights in 2008. The 1,568 fans that attended the match shattered the program attendance record and also were able to honor members of UCF's 1978 AIAW national championship squad following the second set.
"I sat there from the very beginning thinking that this is awesome," head coach Todd Dagenais said. "I have been on the bench for Final Fours. I have been to the Olympics. There was not a moment I remember being more proud to be a part of something then I was in the first couple of points in the first game. I saw that the team was going to go out there and just play and just fight and not be scared."
Besides Campbell, sophomore Janine Williams (Gainesville, Fla.) also had a solid outing for the Black and Gold, recording nine kills and four digs, while senior Jenny Heppert (Lawrence, Kan.) added four kills and a block assist.
Defensively, Kristen Petrasic (Carrollton, Texas) led the Knights with nine digs, and Lauren Williams (Lake Mary, Fla.) contributed UCF's lone block solo.
"I thought that this was an amazing night for our program," Dagenais said. "To be able to have this many people come here and watch us gives us an opportunity to showcase our team, the new era of our team and help show to people what we are trying to do. Hopefully, we get some of these people will come back."
For the Cardinal, Foluke Akinradewo paced the team with eight kills and a .636 hitting percentage, while Janet Okogbaa added four block assists and a block solo.
The Knights' next match will take place Friday at the Jayhawk Invitational, when they face No. 13 Oregon at 11 a.m. ET, before taking on Utah Valley State at 6 p.m. ET.
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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