| UCF at Tulane Wednesday, Nov. 24| 7:00 PM ET LIVE STATS | WATCH | UCF at Houston Friday, Nov. 26 | 8:00 PM ET LIVE STATS | WATCH |
ORLANDO, Fla. –The UCF volleyball team (24-6, 17-1), who has already secured the 2021 American Athletic Conference title, is set for its final two regular season matches on the road this week, taking on Tulane on Wednesday, November 24, and Houston on Friday, November 26.
Both matches will have live stats and can be streamed via ESPN+.
"We are considering this weekend the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament," head coach Todd Dagenais said, "We're starting to go into it with that mentality and attitude and playing under those kinds of conditions. And it's good because it's against two tournament level teams."
Last weekend was full of emotions as the Knights officially won the conference title for the fourth-straight season after a Houston loss on Sunday afternoon. UCF extended its win streak to 13 straight with a pair of sweeps over South Florida to win the War On I-4 18-straight times and over Temple at home for Senior Knight.
Melville was named this week's Offensive Player of the Week for the sixth time this season while Nerissa Moravec was named to the honor roll.
The Knights lead the league in team hitting percentage (.285), opponent hitting percentage (.175), assists per set (12.80), kills per set (13.69), blocks per set (2.68), and service aces per set (1.84).
THE FIELD
THE GREEN WAVE
Tulane (17-13, 10-8) is coming off a split weekend with a sweep over Memphis and a three-set loss to SMU. The Green Wave sit in sixth in the conference but are second in the league in hitting percentage (.239). The Knights have an eight-game win streak over the Green Waves after sweeping them earlier this season at home and have not lost since 2016.
THE COUGARS
Houston (24-6, 14-4), who was in the hunt for a share of the title, is also coming off a split weekend with a sweep of Memphis and a four-set loss to SMU. The Cougars gave the Knights their only conference loss this season in five sets in Orlando and are fighting for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. Houston ranks second behind UCF in opponent hitting percentage (.177), blocks per set (2.32), and aces per set (1.70). Kate Georgiades leads the conference with 5.34 digs per set while Annie Cooke leads with 10.10 assists per set.
DAGENAIS DIALOGUE
[On Tulane]
Tulane's match is a pretty simple formula for a team to win. Whoever handles the ball the best will be able to run a pretty potent offense and will be the one to win the match. And their offense is going to be difficult to stop.
[On Houston]
I've contended since the very beginning that Houston had the most talent in the league. I voted them number one in the preseason. They are absolutely loaded with talent, and we are going to have to play every bit as good as we can to beat them on their floor. I think if Houston beats us, they get into the tournament, so they are going to be hungry.
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