ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – UCF Volleyball (9-5) extended their conference winning streak to 26 straight games Sunday afternoon following their 3-0 sweep over Temple (9-4). The Knights won in three sets (25-14, 25-21, 25-22) to claim the victory at The Venue in Orlando, Florida.
The match began with both sides trading equal blows, with neither team pulling away until UCF went on a 6-0 scoring run to make it 18-11, putting them in the driver's seat and eventually allowing them to take the first set. Temple kicked off the second set on a 5-0 scoring run before UCF called a timeout to regroup. Once again, the Knights went on a run as they came back to take the second set, 25-21. They would go on to persevere through a tough final set to win the match 3-0.
"You always want to start off hot in conference." UCF head coach Todd Dagenais said. "Going up two wins is a nice way to start. I thought Temple did a great job of scrapping and making us make plays. It came down to our serving game. We were able to take them out of their rhythm, out of their system and make them more predictable. So, we were able to get three blockers on two hitters… we were able to convert some points because of our serving."
McKenna Melville turned in another double-double performance, her tenth of the year, as she tallied 18 kills and 13 digs in the match, hitting .312. Erin Olson was key for the Knights in the match as well, racking up 23 assists to go along with 15 digs.
The victory marked the second conference win of the year for the Knights as they continued on a 26-game conference win streak dating back to 2017. They now hold an overall record of 9-5. UCF will continue conference action on Friday, October 4, as they travel to Cincinnati for their first road conference match of the season. The match is set to start at 12:00 p.m. ET.
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FIRST SET
The two sides were neck-and-neck to begin the first set until UCF finally began to pull away after going on a 6-0 scoring run to make it 18-11. UCF continued to look strong, outscoring Temple 13-3 over the second half of the first set. Melville and Nerissa Moravec closed out the set with a block at the net to help the Knights win, 25-14. The defense was strong from the Black and Gold in the first set as Erin Olson had six digs to contribute to UCF's 23 overall digs in the set.
SECOND SET
Temple began the second set on a 5-0 scoring run before UCF called a timeout to regroup. Following the timeout, Kristina Fisher recorded a kill to get the Knights on the board, and UCF continued to battle back to eventually tie it at 10 apiece. As the Knights began to rally and grow their lead to 13-10, Temple called their first timeout of the set. Temple closed the gap to make for an interesting ending, making it a 20-19 game, but UCF finished strong to win the set, 25-21
THIRD SET
UCF started off the final set up 8-5, but Temple would not go down without a fight as they went on a 9-1 run to go up 17-13, forcing a UCF timeout. The Knights came back to tie the set at 18 before going on to finish strong and win the set 25-22, and the match, 3-0.
DAGENAIS DIALOGUE
On the role of the middle blockers in the match:
"We really wanted to mix it up. We wanted to make sure we got our middles the ball more. For Lache Harper to go out there, I thought she absolutely killed it…. two matches in a row she hit for huge numbers. That is what we need. We need three middle blockers that we can interchange and have that kind of depth… because that is the most exhausting position on the floor."
On the upcoming road trip to Cincinnati and ECU:
"We jump into the lion's den against a top-25 team. I think a lot of people think: 'Jordan Thompson, first-team all-American, Olympic player', which she is going to be, but they are a lot better than just Jordan Thompson. They are well coached and have a great team around her. We cannot get too locked in on one player because there are five other players around her on the floor. So, we have to go play them in their new arena and then turn around and play East Carolina, who is scrappy, and in-your-face…. They make you scrap against them. Next week is the most challenging road trip of the year for us in conference."
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UP NEXT
UCF will continue conference action on Friday, October 4, as they travel to Cincinnati for their first road conference match of the season. The match is set to start at 12:00 p.m. ET.
