WICHITA, Kan. – The 25th-ranked UCF volleyball team earned its seventh straight win on Sunday, defeating Wichita State, 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-16), inside Charles Koch Arena. The Knights move to 19-1 on the season and 11-1 in American Athletic Conference play, while Wichita State falls to 11-11 overall and 6-5 in league action.
"This was one of those late October matches that every coach worries about. More upsets happen in October, especially on the second day of a road trip than anywhere else," said UCF head coach Todd Dagenais. "If you look across the country, that's held up. So many upsets."
"Wichita State came out and punched us right in the face and for a second, we stood there shocked. The nice thing is we shook it off and we got mad instead of folding or saying today is not our day or going into a hole. We stepped back up again, and our hitting percentages and our number of kills climbed each set."
The Shockers opened the match strong, jumping out to an 8-2 lead in the first set to force an early UCF timeout. Following the timeout, the Knights settled down and rallied to trim the deficit to two at 11-9 after a Wichita State attacking error. The Shockers went on a 6-0 run from there to pull ahead 17-9 before the Knights answered to cut the lead to 23-20, but Wichita State held on down the stretch to take the opening set, 25-21.
UCF bounced back in the second set, winning it 25-18 to even the match at one set apiece. The Knights took control of the frame with an 11-1 run, highlighted by seven consecutive points, to grab a 21-15 lead following a block assist from Claudia Dillon and Kari Zumach. UCF tallied a team attacking percentage of .294 in the second set, while limiting Wichita State to a .056 clip with only eight kills.
The third set was tightly contested, featuring 11 ties and three lead changes. With the score knotted at 15-15, UCF scored three unanswered points, but Wichita State countered with four consecutive points to regain the lead. After trading points to even the set at 23, McKenna Melville recorded a kill followed by Heidi Bonde to close out the set and give the Knights a 2-1 lead.
UCF played its best set of the day in the fourth, recording a team attacking percentage of .500 with 16 kills on 30 attempts with only one error. Bonde capped a 4-0 run for the Knights with a solo block to make it 10-7 in favor of UCF, resulting in a timeout by Wichita State. Abby Hansen pushed the Knights' lead to 21-12 after a block and a kill and UCF won the set, 25-16, to claim the match, 3-1.
The Knights' defense was on full display during the match, as the squad tallied 15 blocks as a team, which is the second most in a match this season.
"We were able to snap back at the right time and begin going right back to the game plan, keeping things simple, and playing a game we know we can depend on every time," Dagenais added. "I thought that in so many different manners, people did the job they had to do."
Melville led the Knights with 23 kills, surpassing the 20-kill mark for the seventh time this season. Bonde added 13 kills, while Hansen pitched in with seven. Amber Olson tallied a match-high 48 assists from her setter position and Chloe Scheer paced the defense with 14 digs.
UCF returns to action on Friday, Nov. 4, when the Knights welcome SMU to The Venue. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. and the match will air live on ESPN+.