Sept. 11, 2011
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By Eric DeSalvo
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Junior Evija Vilde (Riga, Latvia) totaled a team-high 14 kills and blasted a career-best hitting percentage of .667 to lead the UCF volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of FAU Sunday afternoon from The Venue at UCF. It was the seventh-straight win for the Knights (8-1) who close out the Residence Inn/UCF Invitational later tonight against USF at 7 p.m.
UCF made quick work of the Owls (0-7), 25-7, 25-12, 25-19, and has now won 21-straight sets for the first time since 1997 when the squad won 23 in a row.
"The best part of this match was that we got everybody some opportunity to play," head coach Todd Dagenais said. "Everybody has been working so hard in practice and early in the year you hope to check different line ups out and reward the young players for their hard work in practice. Obviously we had an opportunity to do that today.
"Ashley Gialenios was able to get four blocks in her three games," Dagenais said. "I thought that was a big upside. Delaina Sarden goes in and gets three blocks in her three games. Kaye-Alese (Green) hit .375 and was hitting almost .700 for a good chunk of the match. The young players really did a nice job of going in there and contributing to the team's success."
The Knights began the match on two torrid runs behind the strong serving of senior Rachel Vukson (Oakville, Ontario) and junior Meredith Murphy (Austin, Texas). Starting for the squad at her customary libero position, Murphy kicked off the match on a 4-0 run that was followed up by Vukson's 9-0 streak to give the Knights the early advantage in the first set. Vukson finished the match with 34 assists and six digs, while Murphy tallied six digs of her own.
UCF cruised in the second set, holding FAU to a .000 attack percentage. The Knights prevailed in a tighter third set behind four block assists by the three freshmen Gialenios, Green and Sarden.
Sophomore outside hitter Angelica Crump (Atlanta, Ga.) registered double-digit kills once again for the Knights with 11 on 19 attempts (.474).