ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com)—The UCF Volleyball team sent the seniors away with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-15, 15-25, 25-23) victory over UConn on Sunday afternoon at The Venue.
"It was a fun match," said head coach Todd Dagenais. "I thought that the team did a great job of staying together, supporting each other, finding energy in the fourth set, and a really fantastic job of playing for each other. I thought we went out there and beat a pretty good team and it was a big win."
UConn started the match strong pulling ahead 3-1. The Knights fought back tying it up, before the teams went back and forth. The first set was tied 15 times. UConn jumped ahead 22-19 but the Knights went on a 6-0 run to comeback and clinch the first with a Kia Bright kill. The Knights carried that momentum through the beginning of the second, going up 15-10. The Knights went on a 10-5 run clinching the set on an Alli Sabol kill.
Following the break, the Huskies came out swinging pulling ahead early, 6-1. UConn never lost the momentum and forced a fourth set, with a 25-15 victory in the third. The Black and Gold pulled ahead early, 5-3, but the Huskies fought back and tied the match seven times. The Knights trailed 22-21, but went on a 4-1 run and clinched the match on a Jalé Hervey kill.
Superior Setters
- Junior Farah Rajaee recorded 22 assists and 12 digs in the win.
- Sophomore Miranda Watkins registered 18 assists and five digs.
Outstanding Outsides
- Senior Jalé Hervey tallied 14 kills, with just one error, hitting at a .351 clip and 14 digs in the victory.
- Freshman Alli Sabol posted 14 kills, with a .270 hitting percentage.
Defensive Divas
- Four players finished with 10 or more digs this afternoon.
- Sophomore Jordan Pingel led the group with 20, followed by redshirt junior Kia Bright with 15. Hervey posted an additional 14 and Rajaee rounded out the group with 12.
Block Party
- The Knights finished with 10 team blocks.
- This is the ninth time this season that the team has tallied 10 or more team blocks in a match.
- Freshman Jeanne Westney posted five total blocks in today's match, two solo and three assists.
On the Weekend
- Hervey led the team with 33 kills, hitting at a .223 clip, three aces, 32 digs, averaging 3.56 digs per set and six blocks.
- Sabol posted 27 kills, hitting a .308 clip on the weekend. Pingel recorded 34 digs, averaging 3.78 digs per set.
- Westney made 14 blocks, three solo and 11 assists, averaging 1.56 blocks per set.
Up Next
- The Knights wrap up conference play on the road at Tulane and Houston.
- UCF takes on Tulane on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
- The Black and Gold follow that up with a match at Houston at 2 p.m. on Friday.