Sept. 14, 2013
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Andrew Jennette
UCFKnights.com
ATLANTA, Ga. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF volleyball team took second place at the Georgia State Invitational as it split two matches on Saturday at GSU Sports Arena. The Black and Gold were swept by tournament champion, Buffalo, (20-25, 21-25, 25-27) before riding a comeback to secure the runner-up spot by topping Davidson, 3-1, (24-26, 25-13, 25-18, 26-24) in the nightcap.
Angelica Crump and DeLaina Sarden earned All-Tournament Team honors for the Knights (8-3), who return to action on Wednesday night against Jacksonville at 7 p.m. at The Venue. The match against JU is themed Hawaiian Knight and will feature luau games and prizes.
Buffalo 3, UCF 0 - Box Score
UCF improved in every set of its first match of the day, but it was unable to breakthrough as the Bulls (9-0) showed off tremendous heart and determination on the defensive end to complete the 3-0 sweep. The Knights cut Buffalo's margin of victory in each game and held a lead in the third set, but 21 unforced errors proved to be too costly.
Buffalo is far the best organized and best coached team we've played this year, head coach Todd Dagenais said. We were higher error than we needed to be to beat a team of their caliber, but it's important to remember that Buffalo is 8-0 for a reason. They are very experienced and executed at an extremely high level. This will be a good learning experience for us because we're going to play other teams that play this style later this year. It's good to see it live and in person because watching it on tape doesn't do it justice.
Crump led the Knights in kills for the third-consecutive match as she smacked 12 on a .290 hit percentage. She was backed up by junior Kaye-Alese Green's six kills, three digs and three block assists. Junior libero Jade Hayes recorded her fifth-consecutive double digit dig effort with a team-high 14. The Ozark, Mo., native has topped 10 digs in eight of 11 matches on the year.
UCF 3, Davidson 1 - Box Score
Crump set a new-career high with 25 kills as UCF rallied after dropping the first set with three-consecutive games won to tame the Wildcats (6-3), 3-1. It did not come easy for the Knights as Davidson had set point, 24-23, in the fourth frame before the Black and Gold stormed back with three-consecutive points to clinch the match. Overall, UCF hit .340 as a team and held Davidson to just .183.
This was really just a gritty win, Dagenais said. It's been a long trip, four matches on the road with a lot of new players handling their first road trip, there's just a lot that goes into that. Individual players made plays when it mattered. Our blocking adjustments from the first match were a matter of inches. We got some blocks, but more important than that we a got a lot of control blocks which allowed us to get some easy digs and set up our offensive sets.
For the weekend, Crump earned her All-Tournament honors by racking up 73 kills in 16 sets (4.56 per set) while maintaining a .255 attack percentage. The Atlanta native also provided a spark all weekend on the defensive end with 12 combined blocks. Sarden was equally strong as she recorded 54 kills, 10 blocks and hit .352 over four matches. Junior setter Marie Reiterova had a huge 62 assist, 15 dig double-double as she continued her guidance of
Georgia State Invitational Standings
Buffalo 3-0
UCF 2-1
Davidson 1-2
Georgia State 0-3
Georgia State Invitational All-Tournament Team
Tahleia Bishop, Buffalo*
Dana Musil, Buffalo
Christine Frischke, Buffalo
Angelica Crump, UCF
DeLaina Sarden, UCF
Taylor Pisel, Davidson
Eliza Zachary, GSU
*Tournament MVP