Nov. 12, 2009
By Sarah Tarasewicz
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF volleyball team wraps up Conference USA action this weekend when it challenges league-leader Southern Miss to a rematch Friday night at 8 p.m. ET on the road at Reed Green Coliseum.
The two squads met earlier this season to open conference play at The Venue at UCF on Sept. 18, with the Golden Eagles narrowly defeating the Knights, 3-2 (15-25, 21-25, 33-31, 25-16, 11-15), in a five-set thriller.
The Black and Gold fell to 3-12 in league play, and out of C-USA Championship contention, last weekend after falling to both Tulsa and SMU, 3-1, in its final home series of the year. The squad sits at 11-17 on the year heading into the league-finale.
Senior Erin Campbell (Kansas City, Mo.) continues to lead the Knights by example, pacing the squad with 366 kills and 3.66 kills per set. She also has a team and career-best 21 block solos. Along with Campbell, senior Andee Youngblood (Castle Rock, Colo.) also leads the team with a career-high 1,007 assists, while freshman Tory McCutcheon (Milton, Ontario) leads the pack with a 0.83 blocks-per-set average.
Also on the defensive front, fellow freshman Meredith Murphy (Austin, Texas) currently holds the single-season program record with her team-best 4.27 digs-per-set, while ranking third on the chart with 453 total digs. The libero needs only four more digs to overtake the No. 2 spot from Renata Menchikova who posted 456 digs in 1995.
Southern Miss improved to 25-4 and 13-2 in conference play, while keeping hold of the top spot in C-USA standings, with two victories last weekend against the Mustangs and the Golden Hurricane. The Knights are 4-5 all-time versus the Golden Eagles.
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.
-UCF-