No. 22 UCF vs. Cincinnati | No. 22 UCF vs. ECU |
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – Riding the nation’s fifth longest active winning streak, the No. 22 UCF volleyball team returns to The Venue this weekend for a pair of action-packed matches. On Friday, the Knights will take on Cincinnati in a match with American Athletic Conference title implications at 7 p.m., before going up against ECU on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Friday’s match against the Bearcats is free admission. On Sunday, the Knights will have 550 t-shirt vouchers for students that can be redeemed at the men’s basketball game.
FREE 👏 VOLLEYBALL 👏 IN 👏THE 👏 VENUE 👏 pic.twitter.com/CkmiCYlkIo
— UCF Volleyball (@UCF_Volleyball) November 8, 2018
LAST TIME OUT
The Knights went 2-0 on the weekend with a pair of wins on the road at UConn and Temple. UCF rolled in a 3-0 win against the Huskies. McKenna Melville powered the offense with a 17-kill performance at .308 hitting. The defense totaled 12 blocks over three frames. On Sunday, the Black and Gold jumped out to an early two-set lead, only for the Owls to take the third. Facing a 10-point deficit in the fourth, the Knights rallied to close the match and stay perfect in The American. Melville, Kristina Fisher and Anne-Marie Watson all powered home 10-plus kills.
Libero Jordan Pingel was tabbed as The American Defensive Player of the Week after a pair of 20-dig outings for a 6.71 per set tally.
ALUMNAE WEEKEND
In conjunction with Homecoming, the Knights are glad to welcome home all generations of UCF Volleyball. UCF is honoring the 40th anniversary of the AIAW title team, inducting Tyra Harper into the Wall of Honor, unveiling the 2017 National Volleyball Invitational Championship appearance banner and remembering Tess Nelson Marini this weekend in The Venue.
ROLLING UP THE RANKINGS
For the third straight week, the Knights found themselves in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, coming in at No. 22. After jumping up one spot in the AVCA rankings, the Black and Gold held steady at No. 11 in the RPI. Nationally, the Knights rank 18th in assists per set, 16th in blocks per set and 29th in kills per set.
THE STREAK
The Knights continue to roll in their historic season with a 19-match winning streak. UCF’s last loss came back on Sept. 2 at Florida, some 67 days ago. Over the course of the streak, the Knights are averaging 13.86 kills, 17.27 digs and three blocks per set. Melville has been a powerhouse with 4.52 kills per set, while Pingel has been the steady anchor in the back row with 5.29 digs per frame. Offensively, the Knights are churning at a .250 clip at the net to opponents’ .165.
THE OPPOSITION
>> Cincinnati currently sits in second place in The American with an 11-2 mark in the league and 21-6 overall. All-America candidate Jordan Thompson continues to lead the country in kills, points and total attacks. The redshirt junior has taken more than 60 swings in 11 matches this year.
>> ECU enters the weekend with a 12-12 record on the year and 4-9 in the conference, tied for eighth. Despite the .500 record, setter Shelby Martin continues to rank in the top three in the league in assists per set at 8.82. The Pirates have proven to be a tough team to block with opponents notching just 1.9 stuffs per set.
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