ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – For the first time in program history, the UCF volleyball team was ranked by the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I Coaches Poll. After posting a pair of wins to stay perfect in the American Athletic Conference over the weekend, the Knights checked in at No. 25.
This is the third time this year that the Knights appeared in the weekly release from the AVCA, but the first time they cracked the Top-25. Earlier in the day, UCF moved up to No. 9 in the NCAA RPI ranking.
The Knights are in the midst of a historic season. Riding a 15-match winning streak, the longest since 1997, the Knights are 18-3 overall with a perfect 9-0 mark in The American.
Powered by a starting rotation that contains one senior, one junior and five freshmen or sophomores, the Knights lead The American in assists (13.22), blocks (2.58) and kills (13.94) per set this season.
Libero Jordan Pingel became the first player in program history to record 2,000 digs in a career earlier this season. The lone senior on the 2018 squad is 66th in the nation with 4.82 digs per set. Freshman outside McKenna Melville has led the way offensively with 4.26 kills on 11.33 attacks per set.
On Sunday against Cincinnati, in a match for the sole lead of The American, the Knights broke the program record for block assists in a match with 41. Their 21.5 rejections fell just 1.5 blocks shy of the UCF single-game record. Middle blocker Kathryn Wesolich and right side Anne-Marie Watson also set the school record with 12 block assists apiece against the Bearcats.
UCF returns home to The Venue this weekend to play Houston and SMU.
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