ORLANDO, Fla. – It was a clean sweep for the Knights to start conference play this weekend as the UCF volleyball team (9-5) also swept Cincinnati (6-4) on Sunday at The Venue with scores of 25-23, 25-19, 25-13.
"All in all, I thought we handled business," head coach Todd Dagenais said, "Our execution, our poise and our attitude had a lot to do with it."
The Knights were both offensively and defensively in control of the match. Claudia Dillon had yet another outstanding performance as she recorded six aces, four blocks, and six kills while hitting .556. McKenna Melville led with 15 kills while Anne-Marie Watson notched 10 kills to his .556 and two blocks.
Nerissa Moravec and Amber Olson both added five blocks each, helping the Knights out block the Bearcats 11-0. Olson also led with 30 assists on the match.
Though the Knights got off to a slow start in the first set, they came back to take the lead 7-6. With things all tied up, 13-13, UCF used a big 7-0 scoring run to take control. Cincinnati would try to claw its way back with a 4-0 run, but the Knights were able to take the first set, 25-23.
All tied up 7-7 in the second, the Knights would go on the run with the help of three-straight aces from Dillon. UCF led by as much as seven, 19-12, before securing the second set in 25-19 to go up 2-0.
The third set started just the same as the two teams were tied early at 6-6. But the Knights used multiple runs, including three more aces from Dillon to walk away, 17-10, and never looked back as they took the third in commanding fashion, 25-13, to win the match in three-straight sets.
The Knights have earned four-straight sweeps and are on a five-game win streak.
TODD'S THOUGHTS
[On Cincinnati]
Cincinnati is a great team with great players. We decided we were not going to try and chase them, but we were just going to go out and do our best and just play. Our serving game was huge, and we were defensively rock solid.
[On team personality]
We allow each team to grow their own personality because this is their team, and they get to chose how they want to be and what gets them calmed and focused. I think we have a mature team that makes good decisions.
Claudia Dillon
[On performance]
I think it's just me finding my swagger and my game again and rolling with it. I think our blocks were a game changer today. As a team we were able to keep our smiles and energy on the bench and even on the floor. If we got jittery, I would tell my teammates 'just breathe, and it will all be fine.'
UP NEXT
The Knights will spend their weekend on the road to first face Wichita State on Friday, October 1, before seeing the likes of Tulsa on Sunday, October 3.
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