ORLANDO— After another week of AAC road games with Tulsa and Wichita State, the #23 Knights volleyball team is in action this Friday against the Houston Cougars, followed by a Sunday matchup with the Tulane Green Wave. Friday's matchup will start at 7 p.m. ET and Sunday's will begin at 2 p.m. ET. You can catch both games live on ESPN+.
THE KNIGHTS
UCF is rolling to a perfect 12-0 start this season. The Knights have swept all of their conference matches with a total of seven sweeps in a row. Along with only dropping seven sets the entire year.
McKenna Melville continues to dominate with three consecutive AAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Last weekend, she recorded 38 kills with a hitting percentage of .543. Along with a season total of 237 kills and 105 digs.
Amber Olson continues to dish out assists, recording 72 combined against Tulsa and Wichita State. She is now averaging 11.47 assists per set, hoping to break her single-season record of 1,243 assists. Olson also has 31 blocks on the season.
Chloe Scheer is the team leader in digs, with 155 this season and 2.79 per set. Along with leading the team in service aces totaling out to 15. She comes in second with assists at 49.
Houston
The Cougars will be looking to tie up the all-time series record (13-12). Houston holds a record of 13-2 and 4-0 in the AAC. UCF will look to slash Houston's five-game winning streak. In the last five meetings with Houston, UCF has defeated them in four. In the last matchup, the Knights defeated the Cougars 3-2.
Tulane
Tulane looks to overcome their rough start in conference play (0-4). The Green Wave holds a 5-10 record this season. UCF leads in the all-time series 17-8 and is currently on a nine-match win streak. Last year's Thanksgiving eve matchup resulted in a clean sweep for the Knights. UCF won with scores of 25-20, 25-18, 27-25.
Thoughts with Todd
Houston:
At the beginning of the season, I knew that Houston was going to be one of the top teams in the conference. Playing them on the road first presents its own challenges. You look at Houston's stats and they are averaging over 14 kills per set and that's a significant number. They are physical, big, and experienced. This is as complete of a team that we are going to see in the conference this year. We are going to have to come in here and play a strong error-free match to beat them in their house.
Tulane:
Tulane is going to be a brand new team with a new coach and players this year. From what I know there are ways they can beat you. They took Houston to five, which means they have to be pretty good. In their place in New Orleans, it's always a tough place to play especially when they have a nice crowd. Offensively and system wise we are going to learn a lot to see what the new coach has brought in. They have first-team all-conference players who are going to be out there and have pride and they are going to play really hard against us. They've lost a couple of matches and I'm sure they are looking to get right back in it with the matches they have this weekend.