UCF Head Coach Todd Dagenais
Opening statement...
This was a really gritty win for us late in the season on the road and facing adversity. I saw it all weekend. Amber Olson did a great job of holding the fort together. I thought defensively we were outstanding all weekend long, which allowed us a chance to be a little bit off on the offense. But as the match went on, we got better offensively again just as we did in the SMU match. Really when it came down to it, being lower error and handling the ball a little bit better made the difference in the match. Both outside struggles in their first game, but they really picked it up after that.
On the play of Anne-Marie Watson and Nerissa Moravec...
Anne-Marie Watson chipped in with 10 kills. It was just a really quiet 10 kills, but they seemed to happen in really big points. Her five blocks were huge. It's great to see Nerissa hit .273 and come up with eight blocks. By far, this was her best blocking game in a while.
On the performance of the defense...
To have McKenna with 23 digs Jordan with 23 digs is pretty special. To play that kind of defense and have 11 blocks is a pretty big deal as we go forward. We're going to have to be a defensive team. That's going to be our identity, and we're going to score the best we can score when we can score.
On handling adversity...
I'm just proud of the way that we handled adversity this week, and I'm proud of our attitude being down 23-20 in that last set and coming back and scoring to win it out. All year long they've just been a team that's done the right things. At the beginning of the year, all the way through the summer, and it's paying dividends late in the year. As a coach, you always say that do the right things early. Good things will happen late, and it's coming to fruition now.
On this week's match against USF.
This coming week for the one night for match against USF is going to be a huge match for a lot of different reasons. It’s Senior Knight for Jordan Pingel. We have a chance to finish the regular season off strong. Most importantly, we have another chance to help our university get another three points in the War On I-4. a