Oct. 20, 2011
="" alt="Knight Head" border="0" class="imported"> Read John Denton's Knights Insider | ="" alt="Twitter Logo" border="0" class="imported">Follow us on Twitter | ="" alt="Facebook Logo" border="0" class="imported">Get social with the Knights on Facebook
By Eric DeSalvo
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - It will be a split weekend for the UCF volleyball team as it hosts Tulane Friday night at The Venue at 7 p.m., and then heads on the road to Hattiesburg, Miss., to take on Southern Miss Sunday at 2 p.m. The Knights (12-8, 4-5) enter Friday's match tied for sixth in Conference USA with Memphis and SMU.
Typically playing either two home or away matches in a weekend, the home/away split will have head coach Todd Dagenais and his staff approaching the upcoming matches a little differently.
"We decided we were going to treat this weekend as a road trip in terms of our timelines and scouting," Dagenais said. "We just don't have a lot of time to prepare on Saturday for the second match, so we will prepare for it early as if we were on the road.
"The thing that I am really proud of with our staff and team is that we are doing a good job of preparing for our matches," Dagenais added. "We've won 16 of the 20 first sets played this year, so we are preparing well. The next step for us as a group is to have the experience on the court to adjust from those preparations."
UCF faces another crucial test in conference play as the difference between second and sixth place is only three wins. Both of the Knights' weekend opponents faced off Wednesday night in New Orleans as the Green Wave (8-12, 3-6) swept the Golden Eagles (9-12, 3-6), 25-2, 25-17, 25-23.
Last year, UCF and Tulane went 1-1 with each team winning away from home. The Knights battled to a five-set win in Fogleman Arena with the Green Wave stealing a 3-0 match in Orlando later in the year. UCF is 8-8 all-time against Tulane.
The trip to Hattiesburg will be no easy task as the Knights look for their first win inside Reed Green Coliseum since 2005. Holding opponents to just a .167 hitting percentage on the year, UCF will need to be especially sharp on offense against a strong Southern Miss defense that leads the league in digs per set (18.08).
After a strong offensive showing against Rice and Houston last weekend, senior Rachel Vukson (Oakville, Ontario) and sophomore Angelica Crump (Atlanta, Ga.) continue to rank among the nation's elite. Vukson's 12.27 assists per set are second-best in the country, and Crump's 4.30 kills per set rank her at No. 22. After averaging an impressive 5.62 KPS last weekend, Crump earned C-USA Offensive Player of the Week.
Due to events at the UCF Arena on Oct. 21st & 22nd, free parking for the UCF Soccer & Volleyball matches will be located on the baseball gross lot behind the baseball scoreboard, and the E8 surface lot located off to Orion Blvd.