ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF volleyball team (13-6, 6-1) dominates South Florida (6-12, 0-7) in a sweep on Wednesday night from the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Fla. with scores of 25-13, 25-15, 25-23.
"It's a big deal to go on the road against a rival in front of a large crowd and their entire football team," head coach Todd Dagenais said, "I thought we went out and just performed and really took care of the things we needed to take care of."
McKenna Melville led the field with 16 kills while hitting .367. She also added three blocks, two aces and seven digs. Not far behind was Anne-Marie Watson who went double-digits in kills at 10, hitting an incredible .500. Watson also notched three blocks in the match. Nerissa Moravec grabbed six kills, hit .556, and added four blocks on the night. Setting up her team was Amber Olson with 33 assists.
The Knights charged from the very start and never let up.
South Florida took the first point of the match, but from there on it was all UCF. The Knights went on a 7-0 run and held control of the first set, leading by 10 points at 21-11. UCF tallied 16 kills and hit .682 with four blocks to dominate the first by a score of 25-13.
The Knights were on a mission as the second set started just the same with a 6-0 run. After leading 10-5, UCF took off again to lead 19-10. Mary Beth Headley got her first kill of the season at a perfect time as she closed out the second set, 25-15. The Knights led by a dominating 2-0 as they headed into the third set.
The Bulls used everything they had in the third set as they went on a 4-0 run to get their first two-point lead of the match, 7-5. The Knights stayed calm and followed up with a 5-0 scoring run to lead 10-7. The Bulls tried to fight to stay with the Knights, but UCF used another 5-0 run to lead 19-12. A few errors from the Knights gave the Bulls some light as they came within one point in hopes of forcing the fourth, 24-23. But Amber Olson would not allow it as she notched a kill for the sweep, 25-23.
Most notably, the Knights held the Bulls to a .033 hitting percentage throughout the match.
With this win, the Knights earn three points in the War On I-4 All-Sports trophy to tie up the 2021-22 season stats 6-6. UCF extends to a 17-game winning streak over South Florida as the Knights have not fallen to the Bulls since 2012.
The next War On I-4 matchup will return to The Venue on Wednesday, November 17.
TODD'S THOUGHTS
[On the environment]
I thought our team responded very well to a very hostile, fun environment. They were loud and rude in a fun way. I think our players got a kick out of it and it really kept the game loose for us. I really liked how our players responded to the entire environment and I think they'll tell you they're happy for the win.
[On Anne-Marie]
We knew from watching film they were going to worry a lot about McKenna, which gave us a lot of opportunity to set the middles and set the right sides. And they were going to worry about Claudia on the slide and that gave us opportunities to set the outside. I think Anne-Marie was wide open for a reason and she took advantage of it.
[On the final few points]
There was no panic. We were talking about getting the right people the ball and just getting that last kill. We wanted to have those younger players in those pressure situations, and they bent a little bit, but they never broke.
UP NEXT
UCF will stay on the road for its matchup against Temple on Sunday, October 17, in Philadelphia.
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