UCF Hosts War On I-4 and Senior Knight

ORLANDO, Fla. –The UCF volleyball team (22-6, 15-1) is back in The Venue for two weekday matchups as the Knights host the War On I-4 against South Florida on Wednesday, November 17, and Senior Knight against Temple on Friday, November 19.
 
Both matches will have live stats and can be streamed via ESPN+.
 
"You recognize the seniors that gave you five or six years of their lives and leave a program behind better than when they found it, that's all you could ever ask," head coach Todd Dagenais said, "These seniors have done that. They've set records, they helped recruit future generations and they won at a level that very few others have. It's going to be sad to see them go, but they leave something really special behind."
 
Last weekend, the Knights extended their win streak to 11 straight with a pair of sweeps over Memphis and SMU at home. Melville recorded double-doubles in both three-set matches and was named this week's Offensive Player of the Week for the fifth time this season.
 
Melville is also back on top as the nation's leader in points with 571 and in kills with 504 this season.
 
THE FIELD
THE BULLS
South Florida (7-20, 1-15) is coming off its first conference win over Memphis in four sets, breaking their fifteen-game losing streak. With a long history, the Bulls lead the all-time series, 40-45, but the Knights have won the last 17 matches. The last time South Florida won was in 2012 before The Knights were a part of the American Athletic Conference. Freshman Marta Cvitkovic ranks second in The American with 5.38 points per set. The outside hitter recorded a double-double with 23 kills and 10 digs to help the Bulls get their first conference win over Memphis last weekend.

WAR ON 1-4
So far this season, UCF leads the War On 1-4 All-Sports scoreboard, 12-9, as the Knights won the first meeting over South Florida in Tampa in October in three sets.
 
For the second War On I-4 matchups this season, the Bulls will make the trip to Orlando on Wednesday.
 
The War on I-4 has been all Knights since the two programs joined the American Athletic Conference back in 2013. A victory would push their streak over South Florida to 18-straight wins.
 
UCF has not lost to USF since 2012, or 3,369 days ago.

The last time UCF lost to South Florida,
- Two Knights were nine years old
- Obama was still in his first term
- The Apple Watch hadn't been invented yet
- Instagram Stories weren't a thing
- Call Me Maybe and Gangnam Style topped the charts
- The first Avengers movie just came out
- Disney had not purchased Star Wars yet
- The Knights were a part of Conference USA
- The iPhone 5 was state-of-the-art
 
THE OWLS
Temple (5-22, 1-15) is on a nine-game losing streak and is 0-9 when on the road. The Owls have only won one match in conference play in a five-set win over South Florida. The Knights lead the all-time series 13-6 and have won the last nine matches. The last time UCF lost to Temple was in 2017 at The Venue.
 
DAGENAIS DIALOGUE
[On South Florida]
Throw out the records, throw out the statistics, it's a rivalry game. We can't get wrapped up in that. We have an eye on something bigger in the long run, but we can't achieve that goal unless we get through USF. So as much as USF has meaning to a lot of people and fans right now, USF is a barrier to getting to where we want to go. And they would want to do nothing more than to ruin that for us.
 
[On Temple]
We really have to be focused on our side of the net and do our stuff well. We have to take the emotional side of senior day out against Temple and play good volleyball. We have to be playing our best volleyball of the year.
 
FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS
Continue to follow UCF Volleyball on Facebook (/UCF.Volleyball), Twitter (@UCF_Volleyball) and Instagram (@UCF.Volleyball) for the latest on the UCF volleyball team.
 
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