BOCA RATON, Fla. – The UCF volleyball team (7-5) was unstoppable in its sweep over Florida Atlantic (8-4) on Friday, September 17, to close out the Sunshine Challenge Cup undefeated.
The Knights won the match in three-straight sets with scores of 25-13, 25-9, 25-17.
"This was a program changing weekend and puts us on course heading into conference," head coach Todd Dagenais said, "Things went the way we have been practicing and we did everything we wanted to do. We expanded our toolbox this weekend."
McKenna Melville was named the Sunshine Challenge Cup MVP while Claudia Dillon and Anne-Marie Watson were named to the All-Tournament team.
Claudia Dillon had another big match, scoring 10.5 points with eight kills, hitting .700 and five blocks.
The Knights came out hot and stayed hot in the first set with an early 6-0 run thanks to three aces from McKenna Melville to lead 11-5. UCF then added five-straight kills to lead by 11 points, 17-6. FAU tried to fight back with a 5-0 run, but the Knights could not be stopped and took the set 25-13. UCF hit .588 with zero errors to dominate the first set.
UCF controlled the second set from start to finish. Watson and Dillon were all over the ball as the two added four blocks while Dillon picked up three kills and Watson had two just in the second set. Then Katelyn Grimes went on a run from the service line with 5 aces to lead 22-7. Melville sealed the deal with a kill to take the second set in a dominating fashion, 25-9.
Starting set three up 4-0, the Owls were not going down without a fight and continued to stay within three points, 16-13. However, the Knights walked away while everyone contributed to secure the win, 25-17.
Melville led with 12 kills and hit .444 while Dillon picked up eight kills, hitting .700 and Watson added seven kills and hit .778. Dillon also added five blocks and Watson grabbed four. Grimes dominated from the service line with seven aces in the match. Amber Olson led with 26 assists.
TODD'S THOUGHTS
[On FAU]
We expected to play well today but didn't expect something that good. It was nice to go out and be pretty consistent while making our way through the low points. I think coach Jenny did a great job with our offensive show to keep the setters and attackers calm and collected while coach Brian had another phenomenal weekend with our defense.
[On the serving game]
They could not solve our serving game. Having 14 aces in a match is pretty special even in a five-set game, but especially in a three-set game. Katelyn Grimes getting seven aces alone is amazing.
UP NEXT
The Knights open conference play at home next week against East Carolina on Friday, September 24, at 7:00pm and Cincinnati on Sunday, September 26, at 1:00pm.
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