OXFORD, Miss. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF volleyball team came up short against a talented Rice team, falling 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22) on Saturday morning at the Rebel Invitational.
"We knew coming in that Rice was an extremely good team," UCF head coach Todd Dagenais said. "We knew that it was going to be a tough match; it was back-and-forth all the way through. Each set was close right up until the end when a critical point decided one way or the other and we were on the losing side of all of them. It's all part of our growing and maturation process as a team."
In the opening game, the Knights (1-1) and Owls (2-0) traded points throughout most of the set. Rice, who is receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 preseason poll, used a three-point spurt at the end of the first set to distance itself from UCF and take the opener 25-23. The Owls jumped ahead in the second set, using three-point surges to put themselves out of reach. Despite a late 6-0 run from the Knights, Rice put the second set away, 25-21, to go up 2-0 in the match.
The third set saw the scoreboard tied eight times and two lead changes, signifying the battle put up by the Knights, but the Owls put the game out of reach with an 8-3 run to clinch the victory.
McKenna Melville led UCF with 13 kills and two aces. Makenzie Kuchmaner tallied a match-high 18 digs. Erin Olson tallied a double-double with 16 assists and 14 digs. Kristina Fisher finished with 13 digs and an ace. Nerissa Moravec posted a team-leading seven blocks and Anne-Marie Watson registered five blocks.
TODD'S THOUGHTS:
"We knew coming in that Rice was an extremely good team - favorites to win their conference this year, top 40 RPI. We knew that it was going to be a tough match; it was back-and-forth all the way through. Each set was close right up until the end when a critical point decided one way or the other and we were on the losing side of all of them. It's all part of our growing and maturation process as a team.
(We're) a team that's still learning, a team that's trying to figure themselves out. Rice isn't that team. They know who they are; they know exactly what they do; they know who they want to set, when they want to set. They know exactly who they are at this point and we're still learning who we are. A team like Rice, who already knows who they are, is going to give you a really good test. Even with that, we had our chances to win; we just weren't able to pull some of those points out.
We're learning resilience; we're learning how to be tough; we're learning how to play tight matches. We're learning what it takes - individually, as a team, as a coaching staff – what it takes to win close sets and close matches. Some of them we're winning and some of them we're losing. We're learning the importance of playing individual points. We can't wait to let things happen for us. We have to make sure that we know exactly what we want to do and we have to go out and do it.
This was a great learning experience. We know that we're a work in progress. We know there's going to be ups and downs. We know there's going to be more ups than downs. We'll just gather ourselves and get ready for tomorrow."
NEXT UP
The Knights close out the Rebel Invitational on Sunday, facing the host Ole Miss. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. ET start in Oxford and will air on the SEC Network+.
