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UCF Volleyball Travels to Houston Friday, Hosts Rice Sunday

Sept. 30, 2010

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By Sarah Tarasewicz
UCFAthletics.com

ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF volleyball team concludes its six-match road swing Friday when it travels to Houston for an 8 p.m. ET showdown, before hosting its Conference USA home-opener vs. Rice Sunday at 1 p.m. at The Venue at UCF. The first 200 students to Sunday's contest will be the first to receive the student section t-shirts for the UCF vs. UAB football game courtesy of SGA.

The Knights enter the weekend with a 7-7 overall record and a 0-2 C-USA clip after falling twice to Marshall last weekend in Huntington, W.Va.

Junior Kristin Fisher (Clearwater, Fla.) paces the UCF offense and ranks third in C-USA standings in both kills (4.47/set) and points (4.99/set), while sophomore Meredith Murphy (Austin, Texas) leads the Knights' defense in digs (4.10/set), a mark that ranks seventh among her C-USA counterparts.

Houston hosts the Black and Gold with a 7-8 record on the season and a 1-2 league mark. The Cougars opened C-USA play with losses to both Rice and Tulane, before bouncing back to defeat the Green Wave in three sets on Sunday afternoon on the road. UCF is 0-6 all-time when facing the Cougars.

Offensively, Houston has three players with over 100 kills on the year. Lucy Charuk paces the squad with 161 kills, while Chandace Tryon and Ingrida Zauere follow closely behind with 128 and 121 kills, respectively.

The Knights entertain Rice in their C-USA home-opener Sunday, with the Owls carrying with them a 7-8 overall clip and a 2-1 league record. Rice defeated both Houston and Southern Miss to start league play with a 2-0 record, before falling to the Golden Eagles Saturday in Hattiesburg, Miss. The Knights trail the Owls, 2-6, in the all-time series with their last win coming in 1999.

Ashleigh McCord is the Owls' biggest offensive threat, as the junior ranks fourth in league standings in both kills (4.30/set) and points (4.59/set) heading into the weekend.

Live stats and video are available for both C-USA contests this weekend via UCFAthletics.com.

Season tickets are now available for purchase for only $30 online at UCFAthletics.com or by calling the UCF Athletics Ticket Office at (407) UCF-1000. The Knights are set to host 13 regular-season matches at The Venue at UCF this season, which includes 10 Conference USA contests.