ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF Volleyball team (21-7, 14-2) finished off their regular season with a win against UConn (12-16, 6-10) Saturday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion in Mansfield, Conn., needing just four sets to do so (25-19, 21-25, 25-17, 25-15).
With the victory, the Knights secured their seventh weekend sweep of the season and solidified the number two overall finish in the conference. They will be the No. 3 seed in The American Athletic Conference tournament, which will be played at The Venue in Orlando, Fla. next weekend, Nov. 22-24.
"I thought the defense carried us today. Over the last few matches, the offense had been carrying us, but today, the defense really gave us a chance to break away, so I give a lot of credit to them," UCF Volleyball Head Coach Todd Dagenais said. "Offensively, I thought we were pretty good three out of the four sets, but I thought the defense picked it up for us today. Being able to spread the ball around between McKenna Melville, Kristina Fisher, and Anne-Marie Watson, we had those options plus we had the middle option when we wanted it. Very consistent overall. It gave UConn a lot to have to worry about."
Melville, Fisher and Watson each turned in an impressive showing in the victory. Melville tallied 19 kills and 14 digs while Watson and Fisher had 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Watson also contributed with six block assists while Fisher had 18 digs.
Next weekend, the Knights will return home to host the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship tournament at The Venue in Orlando, Fla. The Knights will be the No. 3 seed and will play in the quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 22 at 3:30 p.m. against the still-to-be-determined No. 6 seed.
Continue to follow UCF Volleyball on Facebook (/UCF.Volleyball), Twitter (@UCF_Volleyball) and Instagram (@UCF.Volleyball) for the latest on the UCF volleyball team.
FIRST SET
UConn looked strong to begin the first set, taking a 10-6 lead early on, but UCF made the adjustment to come back on strong, going on a 8-1-run to make it 14-11 before UConn called a timeout. After extending their lead to 21-16, UConn called time once again, but it would not slow the Knights' roll as they would go on to win the set, 25-19.
SECOND SET
Once again, UConn began the set in the lead as they kicked off the set by going on a four-point run. Watson would record the big kill to put UCF out in front, 6-5, and a 7-1 UCF run would result in a 9-6 lead for the Knights. It wouldn't last long as UConn came storming back to take the 13-12 lead and they would continue to add to it, going up 20-16 before UCF called time. UCF would go on to drop the second set, 25-21.
THIRD SET
UCF started off hot to begin the third set as they took the early, 6-3 lead. In the middle of a five-point UCF run that put the Knights up 11-5, UConn called time. The Knights would not lose their lead and would continue their strong showing in the third set as they would go on to win, 25-17 to put them up two sets to one.
FOURTH SET
The Black and Gold kept the momentum as the transitioned into the final set, going up 7-3 before UConn called for time. Following the timeout, an Amber Olson service ace would put the Knights up 8-3. Later in the set, with UConn down, 15-7, they would call their second timeout, but it would not help as the Knights would go on to claim the set, 25-15 to win the match 3-1.
DAGENAIS DIALOGUE
[On the slow starts in sets one and two]
"I think our focus was there. I think our intent was there, and I think our effort was there. I just think we played tired. The travel will do that to you, but I thought we started slow because we were trying to wait to see how hard we had to work to get through this, but once we realized that we were going to have to work for it, I think we kicked it into gear."
[On finishing the season with a weekend sweep]
"I think it continues to build confidence that we can win matches a bunch of different ways. We are winning matches when we play really well and we are still able to come out and win matches even if we don't play our greatest. I think that is a confident thing to know that you don't have to play perfect to win. You just have to play good and you have to play consistent. I thought that is what we did today."
[On looking toward the conference tournament]
"With any tournament, you take it one match at a time, and we have already started the mentality of one and done, so that is a mentality that will carry into next week. This is a team that understands the ramifications of this tournament and what is at the end, and the ability to win a conference championship is still out there. I think that is something this team will fight pretty hard for."
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UP NEXT
Next weekend, the Knights will return home to host the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship tournament at The Venue in Orlando, Fla. The Knights will be the No. 3 seed and will play in the quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 22 at 3:30 p.m. against the still-to-be-determined No. 6 seed.
