Aug. 26, 2011
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By Eric DeSalvo
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - It was a successful season opener for the UCF volleyball team as it kicked off the 2011 campaign with a three-set (25-19, 25-17, 25-14) victory over South Alabama (0-1) Friday afternoon from The Venue at UCF. The Knights (1-0) will hit the court for their second match of the day at 8 p.m., against Michigan State as a part of the Courtyard by Marriott/UCF Classic.
As a team, the Knights averaged a .379 attack percentage on the day with both sophomores Angelica Crump (Atlanta, Ga.) and Nichole Riedel (Denver, Colo.) hitting over .600 percent in the match. Crump posted a match-high 13 kills while Riedel added four.
"We've put in a faster offense, have the maturity to handle a faster offense and I thought we were pretty consistent with it today," head coach Todd Dagenais said after the match. "We were extremely low error with our attacking and that allowed us to hit for some pretty gaudy hitting percentages.
"For Angelica to go an entire match without a single error is truly unbelievable," Dagenais said. "It is such a great attribute to her and how hard she has worked. Nichole has just been old reliable. She is just the epitome of the blue-collar worker who comes in, punches her ticket and works her butt off. You got to have players like that."
The Knights started the match with a 25-19 first-set triumph. Both Riedel and Crump averaged hitting percentages of .800 and .556, respectively. UCF hit .306 as a unit, with the Jaguars struggling to a .026 attack percentage.
Set two featured more of the same from the Knights as both Riedel and Crump recorded hitting percentages over .550. Junior Meredith Murphy (Austin, Texas) came up with 11 digs, and the Black and Gold blocked three shots as a team.
UCF had a match-best .476 attack percentage with only two errors in the third frame to close out the match.