ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – For the first time in two years, the UCF volleyball team will play in the postseason. After accepting an at-large bid for the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), the Knights (19-13, 12-8) travel to Athens, Ga., and the University of Georgia for a first-round matchup with UNC Greensboro on Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Admission is free to the match at Ramsey Student Center. On the other side of the bracket, the host Bulldogs will face Alabama A&M in the nightcap at 7 p.m. The winners of the two matches will faceoff on Wednesday night.
"We don't really know a whole lot about UNC Greensboro," head coach Todd Dagenais said. "There's just not a lot of film out there recently. What I do know is that they fight and scrap on defense. They're very much like a Tulsa. Those teams can frustrate us when they pull off some spectacular digs, but we just have to be relentless on the attack. In the meantime, we have to do things to slow down their offense. It's going to be a good challenge for us. We're going to the floor knowing that we have to attack."
IN THE POSTSEASON
• The Knights are making their 13th postseason appearance in program history.
• UCF is 10-12 all-time in the postseason.
• The Knights won their lone national championship in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women National Tournament in 1978, playing as Florida Tech.
LAST TIME OUT
• The Knights completed the season sweep of USF on Saturday with a resounding 3-0 win.
• Kristina Fisher went for her sixth double-double of the year with a 14-kill, 12-dig performance.
• UCF limited USF to a .152 hitting percentage and blocked nine balls, led by five from Taylor Wickey.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR TINA
• Kristina Fisher was named the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the week for the second week in a row.
• The rookie out of Austin, Texas, tallied 4.83 kills per set at a .417 clip in two matches against USF.
• Fisher also added 2.5 digs per set and a pair of blocks to her week.
STREAKING
• The Black and Gold closed the regular season with a six-match winning streak, the longest to end a campaign in the Dagenais era.
• Wickey and Jeanne Westney have been a force at the net with a combined 2.4 blocks per set, while the Knights have averaged 8.8 rejections per match.
• UCF swept five of their last six matches. In the sweeps, the Knights hit .300 with 14.9 kills per set.
SCOUTING UNCG
• The Spartans finished the year with a 19-11 record, an 11-5 mark in SoCon play and reached the semifinals of the league tournament.
• UNCG boasts one of the top defenses out of the Southern Conference with an opponent hitting percentage limited to .181.
• Led by Christina Gregory's 514 digs, the Spartans averaged 17 digs per set, which ranked 34th in the nation after the regular season.
SCOUTING GEORGIA
• The Bulldogs wrapped up the regular season with a fifth-place finish in the SEC at 10-8 to go along with a 20-11 record overall.
• Georgia's serve game was the best in the SEC this year with 1.55 aces per set.
• Freshman outside hitter T'Ara Caesar averaged 4.84 points per set, good for 20th in the nation.
SCOUTING ALABAMA A&M
• The Lady Bulldogs were Southwestern Conference runners up, and finished the year with a 14-19 record and a 9-4 mark in SWAC action.
• The Alabama A&M block posted two rejections per set, which ranked second in the conference.
• Terra Brooks averaged 2.64 kills per set to lead the offense.
SERIES HISTORIES
• The Knights hold a perfect 6-0 record over UNC Greensboro.
• UCF and Georgia last met in 2004. The Black and Gold lead the series 6-4.
• The Knights have never played Alabama A&M.
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