ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF volleyball team aims to build off a historic 2021 campaign, announcing its 2022 schedule on Friday afternoon. The 28-match slate features 15 home matches at The Venue.
You can view the full 2022 volleyball schedule here.
"This year, we really took an in-depth look at how we can put ourselves in the best position to earn a national seed if we are deserving," said head coach Todd Dagenais. "We also get a nice dose of Big 12 opponents in Kansas and Kansas State. Miami has also become quite a positive rivalry for us, so it was important to keep them on the schedule.
"Then, we rounded out the schedule with teams we believe could win their conference or have 20 or more wins this season. I think this was the smartest approac, playing the 'long game'. We didn't need to play seven of the top 15 teams to establish ourselves. We just focused on as many quad one matches as possible."
The Knights return McKenna Melville and Amber Olson for a fifth year thanks to the NCAA's COVID-19 Season of Competition Waiver that was granted to all student-athletes, which allows for an additional year of eligibility.
Melville has accumulated many accolades over the years and in 2021 alone she was named an AVCA Third Team All-American, AVCA All-Region, AAC Player of the Year, AAC All-Conference First Team, CoSIDA Academic First Team All-American, CoSIDA Academic All-Region First Team and was named AAC Offensive Player of the Week seven times.
Olson was a big factor in UCF's season last year, becoming the first Knight to be named AAC Setter of the Year while also earning all-conference first team honors for the first time in her career.
After earning its fourth consecutive American Athletic Conference title and NCAA Tournament Appearance, UCF enters its 15th season under head coach Todd Dagenais, who ranks first in program history with 280 victories as head coach.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 15 home matches
- 20 conference matches
- 4 matches against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams
- 2 Wednesday night matches
WAR ON I-4 (vs. South Florida, Oct. 19 – at South Florida, Nov. 9)
The Knights will face South Florida twice during conference play. The Knights currently hold a 18 game win streak against the Bulls and have no lost to them since 2012.
IN THE AMERICAN
In their last season in the American Athletic Conference, the Knights will look to win the conference championship for the fifth year in a row.
UCF leads the all-time series against ECU, Cincinnati, Memphis, Temple, Tulane and Wichita State and looks to take the series lead against Houston, 13-13. The Knights only trail SMU, 11-13, Tulsa, 10-12, and South Florida, 40-45.
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