Sept. 28, 2008
TULSA, Okla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF volleyball team used stellar blocking and efficient hitting to stun Conference USA's top-ranked Tulsa on the road in straight sets, 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-20), Sunday afternoon at the Reynolds Center. The Knights had 18 total blocks and hit .396 as a team in the victory, with Janine Williams (Gainesville, Fla.) and Jenny Heppert (Lawrence, Kan.) leading the charge.
"Coming here and beating the conference's top team on their court was a really special moment for us," head coach Todd Dagenais said. "Especially since we struggled at the end at SMU and for us to come back here and play such a quality team and execute our game plan just shows that we are continuing on in the maturing process. At times we show that we can be a really good team and the goal for us is to just be consistent in this type of performance. If we can continue to be more and more consistent then we can start achieving higher-level goals."
The victory improved the Knights' record to 10-6 on the season, their most wins since 2003, and 2-1 in league matches. The Black and Gold handed the Golden Hurricane only its third loss of the season and its first C-USA defeat, as Tulsa fell to 14-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
Williams hit a career-high .462 with a match-leading 15 kills and added two block solos and three block assists. Heppert hit .800 with four kills and matched her career-best with eight block assists, tying herself for the 10th spot on the UCF individual match register for block assists. Lauren Williams (Lake Mary, Fla.) added five block assists and two block solos, Lauren Rosenthal (Colorado Springs, Colo.) totaled a career-best five block assists and Erin Campbell (Kansas City, Mo.) posted a solo block and four block assists, a career-high for the junior.
UCF's 18 total blocks in the match tie for fifth in program-history, while its 26 block assists tie for the eight spot all-time.
"Our one-on-one blocking was huge today," Dagenais said. "We worked on blocking all this week and it didn't really show against SMU, but it really showed today. I thought we showed much more discipline and maybe it comes as a result of being just a little bit more focused."
Campbell also contributed 10 kills and 10 digs for the Knights, posting her sixth, and third-consecutive, double-double of the season. Also providing offensive firepower for the Black and Gold were Stephanie Serna (San Antonio, Texas), who had 13 kills and hit .440, and Lauren Williams, who hit .667 with six kills.
"At SMU, the closer the match got, the tighter we were," Dagenais said. "Here, the closer the match got the more we played free. For us to play more free, relaxed and confident is really the key to our success."
Rosenthal paced the UCF offense with 38 assists and helped her team hit over .300 for the fifth time this season.
Besides Campbell, freshman Kathleen Curry (Geneva, Fla.) was the only other Knight to record double-digits in digs, posting a match-high 14.
UCF returns home to The Venue at UCF following its eight-match road swing next weekend, hosting Marshall Friday at 7 p.m. and East Carolina Sunday at 1 p.m.
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.
Short Box Score (Match)
UCF vs Tulsa (Sep 28, 2008 at Tulsa, Okla.)
UCF def. Tulsa 25-15,25-21,25-20
UCF (10-6, 2-1 C-USA)
(Kills-aces-blocks) - Williams, Janine 15-0-5;
Serna, Stephanie 13-0-1; Campbell, Erin 10-0-5; Williams, Lauren
6-0-7; Heppert, Jenny 4-0-8; Rosenthal, Lauren 1-0-5; Curry, Kathleen
0-1-0; Totals 49-1-18.0. (Assists) - Rosenthal, Lauren 38. (Dig
leaders) - Curry, Kathleen 14; Campbell, Erin 10
Tulsa (14-3, 2-1 C-USA)
(Kills-aces-blocks) - HODGE, Beth 11-0-0;
STOUT, Hannah 8-0-1; KENEALY, Julia 8-0-4; HANCOCK, Kelsey 7-0-0;
EICHLER, Jennifer 5-0-3; VUKSON, Rachel 0-0-2; Totals 39-0-5.0.
(Assists) - VUKSON, Rachel 38. (Dig leaders) - GROVE, Malorey 9;
HANCOCK, Kelsey 6
Site: Tulsa, Okla. (Reynolds Center)
Date: Sep 28, 2008 Attend: 213 Time: 1:13
Referees: Steve Thomas, Tracy Harrison
-UCF-