Nov. 27, 2015
DALLAS, Texas (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF volleyball team battled SMU Friday afternoon, but the American Athletic Conference champions proved to be just a little too much for the Knights. UCF closed the 2015 season with a 3-0 loss to the Mustangs in Moody Coliseum.
I thought we settled down in the later part of the first set, head coach Todd Dagenais said. And then, from there on, I thought we were playing the same pace as they were, same tempo as they were. I thought our energy and our passion were outstanding. I think just when it came down to it, (SMU's) experience and their talent really put them in a position to be victorious.
The Mustangs broke a 3-3 tie in the opening set and did not look back. The Knights were unable to string enough points together as SMU took the 25-15 first set win.
Junior Taylor Gallart and redshirt sophomore Taylor Wickey teamed up for a block to open the second set in UCF's favor. After SMU pushed out to a 6-2 advantage, the Knights used kills from Gallart and junior Jale Hervey to pull within one, 6-5. The Mustangs went on a second run to push their advantage to six, 19-13. The Black and Gold chipped away and a block from Hervey cut the lead to one, 20-19. Senior Abbie Fleener came up with a kill to delay the SMU set victory, but a kill from Katie Hegarty sent the Mustangs to the break with a 2-0 lead in the match.
The teams traded leads five times and saw 17 ties in the third set. Gallart gave the Knights a two-point edge heading to the media timeout, but the Mustangs came out of the huddle to knot the score at 15. Matching each other point-for-point, the teams traded timeouts down the stretch. Redshirt freshman Maddie Haggerty evened the score at 20, but the Mustangs closed out on a 5-1 run to earn the match victory.
We just went out there and we played volleyball, Dagenais said. That's just been the hallmark of this team all year. No matter what the adversity is, no matter what's going on, they just went out and played volleyball.
Freshman Jordan Pingel finished with a team-high 18 digs. She tallied 570 on the season, a freshman single-season record and the second-most in a season overall.
Jale Hervey led the Knights with 13 kills, while Abbie Fleener finished with four in her final match at UCF. Senior Dana Faught posted 13 assists and nine digs, while junior Shelby Foyer finished with 10 digs in her final match. Taylor Gallart and Taylor Wickey each had three blocks for UCF.
UCF, who is presented by Holiday Inn Orlando East UCF Area, ends the season with a 15-17 overall record and a 9-11 mark in The American.
Story by Megan Herboth; Photos by Brad Helton