ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF volleyball team (15-6, 8-1) shined at home Friday night, and with strong showings from Anne-Marie Watson and McKenna Melville, they completed the 3-0 sweep (27-25, 25-19, 25-15) over Houston (13-11, 7-2) to extend their winning streak to six straight games.
The Knights continued their dominance at The Venue in the match as they are 8-2 when playing in front of their home crowd. After a slow start in the first set, the momentum began to snowball for the Knights as they went on to win each set by more points than the last, including a 10-point margin of victory in the final set to put the exclamation point on the performance.
While it was an all-around effort from the Knights, the Cougars particularity found trouble defending the duo of McKenna Melville and Anne-Marie Watson. Attacking from opposite sides of the court, Melville hit at a .417 hitting percentage to notch 18 kills on the night while Watson had 12 kills of her own, hitting at a .400 mark.
The Black and Gold will look to cap off their weekend with another win as they take on Tulane in The Venue Sunday at 1:05 p.m. The match will be streamed live via the American Digital Network.
Continue to follow UCF Volleyball on Facebook (/UCF.Volleyball), Twitter (@UCF_Volleyball) and Instagram (@UCF.Volleyball) for the latest on the UCF volleyball team.
HOW SWEEP IT IS! We finish off the sweep against Houston to win our sixth straight!!#ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/4K9ysmqEfW
— UCF Volleyball (@UCF_Volleyball) October 26, 2019
FIRST SET
Houston started off the match strong as they went up 6-3 over the Knights, but UCF came back to tie it at 12-12 before going on to take the lead via a Melville kill, capping off a 5-0 scoring run. The two sides continued to trade blows from there, making for a close finish to the first set. Houston went up 24-23 late to force a UCF timeout, and the Knights came back to tie it up at 24 after the stoppage. Watson put the finishing touches on the set as she recorded a clutch kill to help UCF win the set 27-25.
SECOND SET
Once again, Houston began the set in the lead as they were up 5-2 over UCF. With the Knights down, down 9-4, coach Dagenais called a timeout. Following the timeout, The Black and Gold began to settle in, and an Alli Sabol kill cut the deficit to 10-12. The Knights came back to tie the set at 15 apiece, forcing a Houston timeout. Immediately after play resumed, Melville knocked down a service ace to give UCF their first lead of the set. The Knights would not relinquish the lead, capping off an 8-0 scoring run to put them up 20-15. They would go on to win the set, 25-19.
THIRD SET
UCF kicked off the third set with three unanswered points before Houston got on the board. Watson continued to be dominant for the Knights from the right side, scoring three straight points for the Knights to put them up 8-6. Erin Olson contributed with a service ace to put UCF comfortably in the lead at 21-11 before the Knights finished the set to win 25-15, completing the 3-0 sweep over the Cougars.
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UP NEXT
The Black and Gold will look to cap off their weekend with another win as they take on Tulane in The Venue Sunday at 1:05 p.m. The match will be streamed live via the American Digital Network.