Sept. 17, 2015
MIAMI, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) -- The UCF volleyball team was unable to come away with a victory against Seattle in the opening match of the 2015 FIU Invite on Thursday afternoon. The Knights fell 3-1, (21-25, 25-14, 22-25, 20-25) at FIU Arena.
Junior Jale Hervey's kill opened the match in UCF's favor, but Seattle responded with the next six points. The Knights battled back to tie the set and take a 17-16 lead, but the Redhawks pulled away for a 25-21 opening set victory.
The second set saw the teams trade points early. Kills from junior Kia Bright, redshirt freshman Maddie Haggerty, senior Abbie Fleener and Hervey highlighted an 11-2 run by the Knights that broke a 5-5 tie. UCF was undeterred by a pair of Seattle timeouts and evened the match with a 25-14 win in set two.
Seattle went back to its first-set strategy in the third set, jumping out to an early lead. The Redhawks maintained the lead throughout the set, despite rallies from the Knights. UCF was able to cut the lead to one, 21-20, as Fleener and sophomore Taylor Wickey teamed up for a block. Seattle closed the set scoring four of the final six points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
In a back-and-forth fourth set, the teams traded leads five times and saw a tied score on 11 occasions. Haggerty forced Seattle to call timeout as she had a hand in a kill and a block with sophomore Ann Richards that gave UCF a 16-14 lead. The Redhawks came out of the huddle to take the lead and pulled away down the stretch to claim the 25-20 set win and the match victory.
Jale Hervey led UCF with 13 kills while Maddie Haggerty added 12 kills. Kia Bright finished with 11 kills, six digs and two aces for the Knights.
Next Up
? The Knights take on FIU tonight at 7 p.m. ET. UCF closes the trip with a match against Miami in Coral Gables on Friday evening.
? UCF is back at The Venue for the American Athletic Conference opener against UConn on Sept. 25.
Story by Megan Herboth; Photo by Simone Amaduzzi