Nov. 13, 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) - Sunday afternoon could not have gone much better for UCF volleyball setter Rachel Vukson (Oakville, Ontario). On senior day, the lone Knight to play in her final home match assisted UCF to its fifth-straight victory over East Carolina, 3-1 (23-25, 25-12, 25-18, 25-12).
"Everyone was just in it today," Vukson said after the match. "That really helped me overcome some of the sad emotions I was feeling. I was able to set the hitters when they were one-on-one a lot of the times which explains the amount of kills. It was a good effort by every hitter."
Vukson closed out the match with 57 assists, averaging 14.25 assists per set on the day. For the season at home, the Canadian native hoisted 11.91 assists per set and aided the Knights to 12 wins, the most at The Venue since 2003.
Under head coach Todd Dagenais, the Knights (18-10, 10-7) have won a school-record 10 matches in Conference USA. The fourth-year leader was pleased with how his team closed out the home slate.
"I thought Rachel did a very nice job at settling the team down after the first set and then we just methodically went about our game plan," Dagenais said. "I thought we got better as the match went on with our blocking defense, and especially our attacking."
For the match, the Knights connected on 62 kills for a .248 attack percentage. The defense continued to step up in crucial times as it forced 12 blocked shots and 75 digs with five members of the team achieving double-digit defensive helpers.
In the first set, UCF put together a furious run after being down 17-22, ripping off six-consecutive points to tie the frame at 22. But the Pirates led by Kelly Derby's four kills claimed the stanza, 25-23.
UCF bounced back in a large way in the second, winning by a margin of 25-12. Junior Evija Vilde (Riga, Latvia) blasted five of her team-high 17 kills to lead the Knights, and Vukson hoisted 10 assists, dug out seven shots and chipped in with a block solo. Vilde and Vukson both finished the day with double-doubles.
The third set saw sophomore Angelica Crump (Atlanta, Ga.) take over from the start. Up 8-3 early in the frame, Crump had already connected on five of her seven kills in the stanza. Vukson hoisted 14 more assists and Vilde and freshman DeLaina Sarden (Lawrenceville, Ga.) connected on four kills each. Sarden, coming off a career-match against Marshall, blasted 14 kills (.464) and was a force up front with seven blocks, including two of the solo variety.
With a 2-1 lead in hand, UCF shut the door on the Pirates in the fourth, smacking 20 kills on 20 Vukson assists to claim the frame and match, 25-12. Six Knights recorded daggers in the stanza and combined to hit for .417 while limiting ECU to just .148, and .092 for the match.
The Knights will now take to the road for three matches in five days when they travel to Tulsa (11/18), SMU (11/20) and UTEP (11/22) to close out the 2011 regular season.