ORLANDO – With the chance to start its home opener on a high note, UCF took care of business, sweeping FIU (25-14, 25-21, 25-23) Thursday afternoon inside The Venue.
UCF produced 42 kills and nine total blocks in the opening match of the UCF Challenge. The Knights out-paced the visitors 8-3 in service aces, adding 36 digs.
"We're off to a good start, we've talked alot heading into this weekend," said head coach Jenny Maurer. "There is always that chip on your shoulder when we are protecitng our house. We made more errors than I would've liked to but we weathered those ups and downs to finish in three."
Emily Wilson was solid all day long tallying 13 kills and seven digs, adding one solo block. Avah Armour added 10 kills of her own, while Abby Schomers notched 35 assists and seven digs. Heidi Bonde racked up nine kills while hitting a stout .467.
UCF came out strong in the first set with a 5-2 run thanks to pressure from the blocks, forcing consecutive FIU attacking errors early. After multiple scoring runs from the Knights, a 5-1 spurt ended set one with a kill from Bonde. Wilson recorded five kills on the set for an attacking percentage of .400.
The Knights leaped out to a 4-1 lead with a kill from Armour to start off set two. The teams battled to a 20-20 stalemate. A kill from Armour followed by another kill from Wilson gave the Knights a 22-20 advantage to push FIU to burn a timeout. Schomers and Abby Hansen continued to put pressure on the Panthers with a huge block, followed by another kill from Wilson to go up 2-0 in the match.
The third set proved to be similar to the second, with UCF and FIU trading points with 10 ties as both teams battled to 17-17. Armour sparked the Knights’ momentum with back-to-back kills to give UCF a 19-17 cushion. FIU crept back in, knotting the score at 22-22. After a strong sideout push, the Black and Gold ended the set and match on two strong sequences, forcing two straight FIU attacking errors.
With a quick turnaround, the Knights will be back in action in the UCF Challenge on Friday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m., going head-to-head with Mississippi State.