ORLANDO - The UCF volleyball team defeated UIC by a score of 3-1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-15, 25-15) in The Venue on Sunday night.
The Knights came out strong as McKenna Melville had 10 kills while hitting .533 in the first set. Meanwhile, Abby Hansen had two of the six blocks during the first set. The Black and Gold had a key 3-0 run that forced a time out late in set one to give them the lead 21-15. Then, the Knights finished off the job going on a 4-1 run to take the first set 25-16.
In the second set, the Knights started out slower after UIC went on a 6-0 run to go up 14-10 and forcing a time out. UCF drew closer, getting within one late in the second set to go down 17-16, but UIC scored four straight to win the second set, 25-20. The Knights hit .267 as a team while Melville added 5 more kills.
After splitting the first two sets,the Knights came out on fire in the third set, going on a 7-2 run to go up 17-10. UCF finished the set hitting .448 and added 15 more kills while winning the set 25-15.
Up 2-1 going into the fourth, the Knights began on a 10-4 stretch to force a UIC timeout. The offense continued to dominate as Amber Olson served eight times in a row to go up 14-4, forcing UIC to call their last timeout. After trying to storm back, UCF ran away with the set, winning it 25-15. Along with adding 14 kills to their 57 total, the Knights hit .414 during the set. Melville had 26 kills of her own while Olson had 42 out of the 53 total assists.
The Knights improve to 5-0 and look to continue their success against Omaha on Thursday in Kansas. During their stint in Kansas, UCF will also face off against Kansas Friday and Lipscomb Saturday.
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