ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com)—The UCF Volleyball team dropped a close 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-5) decision to LSU on Friday evening at the Holiday Inn Orlando East UCF Area Classic.
"It's not losing that is disappointing, it's the way we lost," said head coach Todd Dagenais. "I think the players are disappointed because they feel like it got so hectic and fast that they were all on an island (by themselves). I think they realize that it can't happen. We have two choices, we can take this (loss) and wear it as an anchor around our neck or we walk out of the locker room, forget about it and learn from it."
In the first set, the two teams battled back and forth. At 12 different times the score was tied, with three different lead changes. UCF jumped out to a four-point to clinch the set. LSU jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and continued to hold the momentum throughout the entire second set.
The Tigers held the momentum through the third, until the Knights tied up the game at 13-13. The teams battled back and forth tying the score six times with two different lead changes, though LSU took the third.
UCF came out a little slow in the fourth before going on an 8-2 run. The Knights and Tigers tied the score in the fourth nine times before UCF used a block from Jeanne Westney and Alli Sabol to force a fifth. LSU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never dropped the lead.
Bright-ly Shine
- Kia Bright collected her fifth double-double of the year.
- The redshirt junior logged 16 kills and 14 digs, while hitting .250.
Double-Digits
- The Knights had three players with double-digits.
- Jalé Hervey (19), Taylor Gallart (17) and Bright (16) all had double-digit kills
- Miranda Watkins and Farah Rajaee had 29 and 25 assists, respectively.
- Jordan Pingel had 26 digs in addition to Bright's 14.
Up Next
- The Black and Gold who are presented by Holiday Inn Orlando East UCF Area have a day of rest before taking on Seattle in Sunday's finale at 2p.m.
General admission adult season tickets are now available for $30, and youth tickets (ages 2-17 years) are $15 and good for one-general admission seat to all 2016 regular season home matches. General admission single game tickets are $5 for adults and $4 for youth, seniors (55+) and UCF Faculty Staff. Admission is free for UCF students. For more information on how to purchase tickets, visit UCFKnights.com or call 407-UCF-1000.