Oct. 7, 2010
| Conference USA Action UCF at Houston Oct. 1, 2010 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| UCF | 21 | 12 | 25 | 18 | 1 |
| Houston | 25 | 25 | 19 | 25 | 3 |
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Rice | 25 | 25 | 23 | 26 | 3 |
| Marshall | 11 | 20 | 25 | 24 | 1 |
Quotes from the Weekend
Head coach Todd Dagenais
On Angelica Crump's breakout match vs. Rice Sunday afternoon
"I thought that one of the highlights of the whole match today was the play of Angelica. We have been waiting for her to play like that for about six or seven weeks now and hopefully this is the breakthrough we have been waiting for on her. She is starting to come out of her shell and is starting to be that dominating attacker that we knew she could be."
On the team excelling on the three areas it could control against the Owls
"We came into this match and said that the three things that we have control over are our attitude, our energy and our effort and we said that was going to have to be a huge part of our ability to beat a good team like Rice and I was very happy with all three of those. I thought that we showed the energy for sure. I thought the effort was really high, probably the highest effort that we have put in all year, and the attitude was great. We put ourselves in a position to compete with a good team today."
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF volleyball team continues it three-match home stretch this weekend when it welcomes East Carolina to The Venue at UCF for a two-match Conference USA series. The Knights look to pick up their first league win of the season against the struggling Pirates Saturday night when they attempt to break the attendance record for the third-straight season in VolleyBowl III. All fans will receive free admission for the event.
Improving the Block
Over the past couple weeks, the Knights have been working hard on improving their blocking and it has definitely paid off in their last three matches. Since its second contest at Marshall on Sept. 24, UCF has totaled 31.0 total blocks, including eight block solos and 46 block assists, for an average of 2.8 blocks per set. Through four C-USA matches, the squad ranks fourth in league standings in blocks with a 2.36 blocks-per-set average, trailing only Houston, SMU and UTEP. Prior to beginning conference play, the Black and Gold was averaging 1.5 blocks per set with only 66.5 total blocks in 12 matches.
Best of the Season
Middle blocker Tory McCutcheon tallied a .750 attack percentage Friday night at Houston after posting 12 kills on 16 attempts with zero errors. The attack percentage was the best against C-USA competition in league play this season and matched the top mark for the best percentage overall in 2010 among league competitors. McCutcheon currently ranks 64th nationally with a .355 attack percentage on the year.
Breakout Performance
With her career-best eight total blocks, which included five block solos and three block assists, and 13 kills Sunday afternoon vs. Rice, redshirt freshman Angelica Crump put together the best overall performance of her young career. Her five block solos tied for second-most on the UCF single-match record and was the first time a Knight tallied five block solos since Piper Morgan totaled five vs. Charleston Southern in 2001.
Trying to Break the Top-10
Sophomore Meredith Murphy tallied career dig No. 700 last weekend at Houston after posting a team-leading 12 digs in the contest. The last Knight to record 700 or more digs for her career was 2009 All-C-USA second team selection Erin Campbell, who posted 1,134 from 2006-09. Murphy needs only 137 more digs to overtake the No. 10 spot on the UCF all-time register and 410 to surpass Campbell for the No. 5 spot all-time.
Among C-USA's Best
Junior Kristin Fisher continues to hold on to the No. 3 spot in C-USA individual standings in both kills (4.36/set) and points (4.85/set) following last weekend's league series vs. Houston and Rice, while middle blocker Tory McCutcheon ranks second in the conference with a .355 over attack percentage.
Also ranking in the top-10 in attack percentage is fellow middle blocker Nichole Riedel, who holds down the No. 8 spot with a .317 average.
Setter Rachel Vukson ranks eighth among C-USA setters with a 9.68 assists-per-set average, and Meredith Murphy stays in the top-10 with a 4.09 digs-per-set average, good for No. 7 on the register.
On the National Scene
Kristin Fisher also remains one of the top hitters in NCAA Division I, as the outside hitter ranks 18th among the nation's best in kills in the latest NCAA Ranking Summary released Tuesday. Fisher also ranks
As a team, UCF ranks in the top-100 nationally in assists per set.
Up Next for UCF
The Black and Gold will entertain East Carolina in a C-USA two-match series at The Venue at UCF this weekend. The two squads will face off for the first time Saturday night in VolleyBowl III at 7 p.m., before seeing each other again Sunday night at 7 p.m.
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.