ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The Knights' (19-7, 12-2) season-high 10-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday as The Black and Gold narrowly fell to division rival Cincinnati (22-5, 13-1) in four sets (22-25, 25-23, 14-25, 21-25) at The Venue in Orlando Fla.
The two sides were pretty evenly matched to begin the afternoon, with each team picking up a set victory to kick things off. The Knights stumbled in the third set, falling 14-25, but they began to gain momentum late in the fourth set before ultimately falling, 21-25 to lose the match, 3-1.
"I thought that was a really good battle," UCF Volleyball Head Coach Todd Dagenais said. "I thought Cincinnati deserved to win this division. I don't think we are that far behind them right now and I think we closed the gap since the last time we played them. Hopefully, there is another match out there for us coming up in the next couple of weeks against these guys, but we will just have to wait and see how [the tournament seeding] plays out."
McKenna Melville and Kristina Fisher each had nice offensive days, turning in 20 and 15 kills, respectively while Fisher hit at a .424 mark on the afternoon. On defense, Knights' Libero Makenzie Kuchmaner racked up 16 digs after she had 21 just two nights ago against ECU. Following the weekend, she has brought her season digs per set total to 3.80.
The Black and Gold will hit the road next weekend as they finish out the regular season with matches against Temple and UConn. The following weekend, the Knights will play in the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship tournament at The Venue in Orlando, Fla. The Knights' seeding and time of play is to be decided.
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FIRST SET
Nerissa Moravec and Anne-Marie Watson got The Venue rocking early as the duo rejected Jordan Thompson at the net to make it 2-3, UCF. Cincinnati maintained their lead early on, going up 13-8 before UCF called a timeout. The Knights would come back to tie the set at 16 all, but down 21-23 later in the set, they would call their second timeout. The Bearcats would go on to win the first set, 25-22.
SECOND SET
UCF started off a high note to begin the second set, going up 5-3 for the early lead, but the Bearcats fought back. The two teams were tied 12 different times in the set. Alli Sabol and Nerissa Moravec teamed up for a stuff to put UCF up 18-17 and force a Cincinnati timeout, and another block, this one from Melville and Moravec, put Knights up 20-18. A Kristina Fisher kill put UCF up 22-20, forcing another Cincinnati timeout, but it would not slow the Knights as they went on to win second set, 25-23.
THIRD SET
Cincinnati jumped out 8-2 to begin the third set and UCF called an early timeout. The Knights could not catch up, and down 9-17, they called another timeout, but it would not help as the Bearcats continued to outscore UCF, going on to win the set, 25-14.
FOURTH SET
Cincinnati started the fourth set up 8-2 and the Knights called an early timeout to halt the momentum. Down 17-8, UCF called another timeout, and after the Knights worked their way back into it, making it a 20-14 score, Cincinnati called a timeout of their own. The Knights continued to claw back, and the home crowd began to get into it. As the Knights cut the deficit to 21-18, the Bearcats called yet another timeout. Despite the Knights working their way back into it, they would go on to drop the final set to Cincinnati, 21-25, losing the match, three sets to one.
DAGENAIS DIALOGUE
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UP NEXT
The Black and Gold will hit the road next weekend as they finish out the regular season with matches against Temple and UConn. The following weekend, the Knights will play in the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship tournament at The Venue in Orlando, Fla. The Knights' seeding and time of play is to be decided.
