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UCF vs. Jacksonville |
ORLANDO – The Black and Gold are hitting the road for the first time in the 2020-21 season on Tuesday as the Knights will travel to Jacksonville for a 6:00 p.m. match with Jacksonville University.
Live stats for the match will be provided here.
THE KNIGHTS
UCF remains undefeated to start the season after sweeping Tulane twice last weekend. The Knights are 5-0 to start the year for the first time since 2014 when they were perfect through their first six matches. They would go on to win their first American Athletic Conference title that same season.
UCF has already enjoyed two players being named conference players of the week to begin the year. This week, middle blocker Nerissa Moravec was tabbed as The American's defensive player of the week after leading the Knights to another undefeated weekend against Tulane.
In the week prior, outside hitter McKenna Melville was named the league's offensive player of the week.
The Defensive Player of the Week award marked Moravec's first in her five-year career with the Knights. The honor comes a week after she was named to the league's honor roll for her performance in UCF's opening week.
Defensively, Moravec continued her strong start to the 2020-21 campaign over the weekend, notching 13 block assists to go along with 12 kills. On Saturday alone, she had eight block assists and seven kills, both season highs.
Moravec's excellence to begin the season has not come as a surprise. In 2019, she was a key member of a UCF defense that finished sixth nationally in blocks per set (2.91). Among individuals, Moravec was 27th in the nation in blocks per set (1.32) in 2019.
Moravec's game is also well-rounded as she is currently fifth on the team in kills. She now has 25 kills from the middle position on the year and is hitting at a solid .460 clip.
The Offensive Player of the Week award the week prior marked Melville's seventh of her career as she earned the distinction two times in 2019 and was a four-time recipient in her freshman season in 2018.
Melville was unanimously tabbed the American Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year to begin the season in early January after posting one of the best sophomore seasons in UCF Volleyball history in 2019, finishing with a team-high 4.49 kills per set and scorching 548 kills on the year. Melville ranked 10th in total kills, 12th in total points, fifth in total attacks, 23rd in kills per set and 24th in points per set nationally in 2019.
Both Moravec and Melville are UCF Volleyball co-captains.
THE DOLPHINS
The Knights have faced Jacksonville an incredible 57 times in their history, with most of those meetings coming in UCF's formative years as a program in the latter part of the 20th century. The last time the two teams met was in 2013. UCF came out on top, 3-1 at The Venue.
UCF's last loss to the Dolphins came in five-set fashion in 2010.
DAGENAIS DIALOGUE
[On facing Jacksonville]
"Jacksonville has the ability to give any team fits. They spread the ball around and they had a taste of winning. They have won some very close sets and matches, that speaks a lot about the resilience. You know they're going to come in prepared and well coached. It will be a very interesting test for us to go up there and see how we perform."
[On travelling and playing on the same day]
"Jacksonville brings us another challenge. We have to figure out a way how to travel and play in the same day. That's not something we've done before. I expect our upper classmen to lead the charge and create the level of focus and intensity we need to be successful."
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