WICHITA, Kan.—The UCF volleyball team (12-0) kept the streak alive on Sunday in a matchup against Wichita State (7-7) at Charles Koch Arena. The Knights recorded their sixth sweep in a row with score of 25-16, 25-14,25-16.
"First off, let's talk about how grateful we are for our administration (Terry Mohajir and Chris McFarlane) for believing in us and knowing the importance to get these matches in," said UCF head coach Todd Dagenais. "I would like to thank the whole staff at Wichita State for covering both of our matches this weekend and for cooperating with us to ensure that the appropriate staff was there to cover our games."
Wichita State came out ready to go by taking the first point of set one. The Knights quickly came back to tie it up and take the lead. At 24-15, Wichita State challenged a play and won to force the Black and Gold another serve.
In set two, the Shockers tied it up once at 2-2 but then the Knights charged on with the lead. UCF recorded five service errors in set two. Here is what Coach Dagenais thought about the service errors:
"We were able to keep them off balance with our serving. Missing over three a set is not your ideal situation but we had them in a position where we were keeping them out of system by serving hard. That we were willing to accept a ball that missed by three inches one way or three inches another way. Serving was so critical to keep Wichita's potent offense from being able to get into rhythm. We were able to accept the risk of serving hard to make sure that Wichita just couldn't get into system."
The Knights scored first in the third set. Followed by the Shockers tying it up at 1-1. UCF came back and went on a 2-0 run to take the lead.
McKenna Melville came off the court with 15 kills along with three block assists. She helped out on the defensive side with six digs.
Kari Zumach stepped up on the offensive side with 12 kills and two block assists.
Also, Coach Dagenais added in, "I think Kari is kind of an unsung hero in this match because she went out there and she put up some pretty big time numbers. She made sure that McKenna didn't have to carry the offense. But then you look at someone like Claudia who added nine kills hit .538 that kept the pressure off of both Kari and McKenna."
UCF will head out on the road next weekend against Houston on Friday, Oct. 7 with first serve slated for 7 p.m.