Oct. 3, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF volleyball team was resilient in a five-set victory over Conference-USA foe Marshall (8-6, 1-3 C-USA) Friday night at The Venue at UCF, defeating the Thundering Herd, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 24-26, 15-12 to improve its record to 11-6 on the season and 3-1 in league play.
Four Knights posted double-digits in kills, with junior Erin Campbell (Kansas City, Mo.) leading the squad with a match-high 22 kills, a mark that matched her career-best, and 14 digs for her fourth-straight double-double and her seventh of the season.
"(Campbell) was pretty big for us tonight," head coach Todd Dagenais said. "You will notice in the fifth set I started her left front. We were going to bring her across the front row and ride her arm. She did a nice job. She had a tough draw having to go against their best blocker for a good part of the night. She handled it very admirably. She is maturing every single match as an outside hitter."
Stephanie Serna (San Antonio, Texas) hit .375 with a season-best 17 kills and three block assists in the match, while Janine Williams (Gainesville, Fla.) and Jenny Heppert (Lawrence, Kan.) added 14 and 13 kills, respectively.
Heppert hit .579 and recorded four block assists, while fellow middle-blocker Lauren Williams (Lake Mary, Fla.) hit .538 with nine kills and tallied a match-best six block assists to match her career-high.
As a team, the Knights hit .321, including a .452-mark in the opening-set victory, and out-blocked Marshall, 11-7.
Contributing to UCF's stellar attack percentage was the setting of sophomore Lauren Rosenthal (Colorado Springs, Colo.). The setter dished out a career-high 67 assists, while posting three block assists.
"I thought that Rosenthal did a really nice job running the offense," Dagenais said. "We hit .300 in a conference match and I am telling you what when you can do that....that is big time. It is good volleyball. If you can hit .300, then you have a chance of winning every single match."
UCF jumped on the Thundering Herd early in the match, defeating the visiting team, 25-22 behind eight kills from Campbell. After falling in the second set, the Knights rebounded for a set-three victory, with Lauren Williams and Heppert getting back-to-back kills to end the set.
The fourth set saw another Marshall victory, even though UCF held a 24-21 lead toward the end of the set. The Herd posted five-consecutive points to even the match 2-2 and force a decisive fifth set. The Black and Gold stepped up to the challenge when it counted, pulling ahead, 5-3 after a pair of Thundering Herd miscues. The Knights never lost the lead from that point on, cruising to a 15-12 win in the set and a huge victory for the match.
"We needed to shut (Marshall) down right away (in the fifth set)," Serna said. "We were not going to let ourselves have a set-four repeat. We are good at learning our lessons and making changes. Our passes and sets were right on point, and it just worked out for us."
UCF continues its four-match homestand at The Venue at UCF Sunday when it hosts East Carolina 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)
Marshall vs UCF (Oct 03, 2008 at Orlando, Fla.)
UCF def. Marshall 25-22,23-25,25-21,24-26,15-12
Marshall (8-6, 1-3 C-USA) (Kills-aces-blocks) - SULLIVAN, Emily
20-0-3; ROSS, Jalicia 17-0-2; HERMAN, Elizabeth 10-0-1; KEHL, Layne
9-1-3; MARCUM, Kristin 8-0-2; CARLSON, Megan 3-2-0; FLEMING, Elizabeth
2-0-1; YOHO, Cameron 1-0-0; Totals 70-3-7.0. (Assists) - FLEMING,
Elizabeth 58. (Dig leaders) - CARLSON, Megan 13; DHOORE, Jessica 12
UCF (11-6, 3-1 C-USA) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Campbell, Erin 22-0-2;
Serna, Stephanie 17-0-3; Williams, Janine 14-0-1; Heppert, Jenny
13-1-4; Williams, Lauren 9-0-6; Forde, Renele 0-0-2; Rosenthal, Lauren
0-1-3; Totals 75-2-11.0. (Assists) - Rosenthal, Lauren 67. (Dig
leaders) - Campbell, Erin 14; Curry, Kathleen 13; Williams, Janine 8
Site: Orlando, Fla. (The Venue at UCF)
Date: Oct 03, 2008 Attend: 576 Time: 2:13
Referees: Mike Carter, James Phillips
Set 1 UCF (22-17): Yellow Card UCF Coach (Delay)
-UCF-