Nov. 27, 2010
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By Sarah Tarasewicz
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Seniors Kristin Fisher (Clearwater, Fla.), Sara Rex (Oldsmar, Fla.) and Brittanie Wallace (Austin, Texas) combined for 28 kills in their final contest at UCF as the Knights' volleyball team concluded the 2010 season with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-20) victory over UTEP (12-21, 4-16 C-USA) Saturday night at The Venue at UCF. The win improved the team's overall record to an even 16-16 overall and to a program-record 9-11 in Conference USA action.
"I am really excited that the seniors who have made such a massive contribution throughout their time here at UCF were able to be successful on the floor tonight," head coach Todd Dagenais said. "It was so nice to see the smiles on their faces and watch them having fun playing. I thought we played as relaxed, as loose and as free as we have ever played. It was just really a nice way for the three of the seniors to wrap up their careers here at UCF. "
The Black and Gold's 16 wins on the year and its nine league victories are its most since joining C-USA and its best overall mark since 2003 when the squad tallied a 23-7 record on the season.
Fisher's 16 kills led all players in the contest, while the total also pushed the outside hitter's season tally to 495 kills, which allowed her to overtake the tenth spot on the UCF Individual Season Record chart. Her season kill total is also the highest for a Knight since Leyre Santaella Santé registered 610 kills in 2002.
"I have worked so hard over the last four years to help build this program and to have a season that broke records is really cool," Fisher said. "I will always be able to say that I was a part of that. Just knowing that and knowing how hard my teammates work, to be able to give them some type of reward for that was my main goal."
Fisher added a career-best .400 attack percentage to go along with nine digs against the Miners to conclude her career.
"Tonight was just so much fun," Fisher said following the match. "There was never a point during the match where we were stress and I think that is something unique that we all got to do together. We just got to go out there and enjoy our last match and just have fun with our teammates."
Redshirt freshman Angelica Crump (Atlanta, Ga.) hit .375 with eight kills and a block solo for the Knights, while Rex and Wallace each contributed six kills and two blocks to wrap their final campaign at UCF.
"It was so great to share the floor with Sara and Brittanie tonight," Fisher said. "We have worked so hard together and to see them be successful made me so happy for them."
Setters Rachel Vukson (Oakville, Ont.) and Marie Reiterova (Luxembourg, Luxembourg) helped lead UCF's offense to a season-high .365 attack percentage, dishing out 21 and 11 assists, respectively. Vukson also had three service aces and four digs in the contest, while Reiterova had a service ace and four digs.
In the back court, libero Meredith Murphy (Austin, Texas) posted a match-high 11 digs for her eight-consecutive double-digit dig performance and her 29th of the season.
The Black and Gold did not hit under .333 in any of the three sets, which included a .393 attack percentage in the opening set. The team trailed only two times the entire match, once in the opening points of the first set and once in the opening points of the second set.
"This team decided that they wanted to be a special team," Dagenais said. "They decided that way back in August, and they did not forget that promise that they made to each other even when things weren't going so well. They really found a way to dig deep and I think that we are going to look back and say that the first two teams each contributed something, but this team may have been the pivot point. This could have very well been the launching pad as we go forward."