ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF volleyball team (17-6, 10-1) stormed Tulsa (11-9, 6-5) in three sets at The Venue on Friday night with scores of 25-17, 25-17, 25-17.
"We had to score 22 of our 25 points, that is how low error they were," head coach Todd Dagenais said, "They did nothing to beat themselves, we had to go out there and beat them. We had to play as perfect as we could."
McKenna Melville recorded her tenth double-double on the season, which she grabbed early in the second set with 21 kills and 15 digs. Melville also hit .452 on the night.
Anne-Marie Watson picked up 13 kills and hit .500 while Claudia Dillon notched 11 kills, hitting .563 and three blocks.
Amber Olson continues to set up a great match with 48 assists and nine digs. Katelyn Grimes proved to be a threat from behind the service line as she notched four aces.
It was back and forth to start the match as they were all tied up ,13-13, before the Knights used a 3-0 run to lead 16-13. UCF quickly found their rhythm and went on another big run to lead by five points, 20-15. The kept the fire going as they closed out the first set on a 5-0 run with the help from three aces from Katelyn Grimes. The Knights took the first set, 25-17.
The Knights got out to a two-point lead, 7-5, but the Golden Hurricane came back for the lead change at 11-10. UCF used a pair of 3-0 runs and led 21-15 before closing out the second set, 25-17. The Knights got out to a 2-0 lead, heading into the third.
Tali Marmen came out swinging in the third to give the Knights an 11-7 lead. From there, the Knights quickly put away the Golden Hurricane to win the third set also in 25-17 to get the sweep.
UCF extends its winning streak to six with five-straight sweeps and earned its 10th sweep this season.
TODD'S THOUGHTS
[On McKenna Melville]
She had a good matchup, they lined up in a way we didn't expect them to. She was able to hit over the setter. She took advantage of it. She had another McKenna night. We don't take those for granted. Tulsa could've camped out on her all night, but they didn't have the luxury because Anne-Marie and Claudia were other weapons.
[On Tali Marmen]
I was really proud of Tali, she struggled in the first two sets. We thought about making a change but the comfort level on the floor was good and the chemistry on the floor was good. I applaud her for hanging in there and finding her rhythm in that third set.
UP NEXT
UCF is back in The Venue on Halloween Sunday to take on Wichita State in The Venue for the Volloween match at 1:00 p.m.
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