CINCINNATI, Ohio – UCF volleyball recorded its sixth sweep of the season and first in Big 12 play taking down Cincinnati (25-14, 25-18, 25-22) on Friday night in the Fifth Third Arena.
The Knights (11-2, 2-0) polished off the night with 41 kills, 12 blocks and nine service aces while the Bearcats (7-5, 0-2) tallied 36 digs. Lauren Clark recorded 10 kills to fire away a .600 attacking percentage. Emily Wilson notched 10 kills while Claudia Dillon added eight kills.
“Tonight our focus was twofold, one to maintain a consistent level of urgency on our side while trying to slow down their offense in the middle,” said head coach Jenny Maurer. “Not only did we accomplish both challenges we substantially cut down on untimely errors. We saw some real growth in our defense this weekend and we’re looking to add more building blocks as we prepare to play at home next weekend.”
The Knights and Bearcats exchanged points back and forth in the opening set until a 6-6 deadlock when Chloe Scheer helped ignite a 6-0 scoring frenzy following two consecutive aces. UCF kept the lead throughout the remainder of the set gaining as much as a 12-point advantage as the Knights got off to an early lead in the match, 25-14.
UCF and Cincinnati kept things close in the second stanza a kill from Abby Hansen tied it up at sevens. The Knights preceded to go on a 4-0 run to give themselves a 10-7 edge over the Bearcats. Cincinnati fought back to cut the lead to two following a 4-0 run, 18-16. The Black and Gold ended the second set with a 3-0 spurt, 25-18. For the set, UCF hit a .364 clip with 17 kills.
"It feels really good to start 2-0 in the Big 12," added Lauren Clark. "We've been working really hard throughout preseason with some tough opponents. Playing back to back we just looked at what we could do better and that's what we did tonight"
The Knights got off to an early 4-1 lead in the third frame as Armour started it off with a kill. The Black and Gold jumped to a 10-point lead, 13-3 following a 5-0 spurt that ended with a block assist from Abby Hansen and Clark. Cincinnati chipped away at the Knights’ lead with a late 4-0 rally, 24-22 but UCF took advantage of a Bearcat attacking miscue to earn the sweep, 25-22. UCF defended strongly at the net to tally eight blocks in the set for a total of 12 in the match.
UCF will head back home as they host Oklahoma for two matches next week with the first one set for Thursday, September 28 at 6 p.m.