ORLANDO-- UCF volleyball fought back after being down 2-1 heading into the fourth set to earn a win against North Texas (25-17, 20-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-8) on Saturday afternoon in The Venue. The Knights wrapped up the UCF Invitational 2-0.
"Well I think today was a lot about feast or famine," said head coach Jenny Maurer "We knew that North Texas was going to be pesky on defense and that their offense mixed things up a lot. I was proud of us regaining our composure in the fourth set. Our servers really buckled down"
The Black and Gold (7-1) forced the Eagles (4-6) into 15 reception errors to give the Knights 15 aces. UCF recorded 62 kills to North Texas’ 47 as both teams tied in digs at 49. Lauren Clark led the match boasting a new career-high 20 kills. Abby Schomers dished out 47 assists adding in 13 digs. Emily Wilson provided four of the Knights’ 15 service aces. Avah Armour and Wilson each tallied 11 kills on the day.
After a back-and-forth start in the first set, a kill by Wilson kickstarted a 6-0 run, placing the Knights up 12-4. UCF kept a steady pace throughout the remainder of the set as Armour finished it off with a kill, 25-17. Clark ended the first stanza leading with five kills.
"As a team, we refocused and started leaning on each other," said Abby Schomers.
The Knights and Mean Green traded points back and forth until a 2-2 deadlock when North Texas went on a quick 3-0 run, 5-2. UCF chipped away at the lead to earn tie it up at 7-7. The Eagles answered back with a 5-0 run to take the 12-7 edge. The Knights chipped away at the lead, but it wasn’t enough as North Texas took the second set, 25-20.
North Texas led off the third frame with six blocks, going up 8-1 by the first timeout. The Knights showed signs of hope, cutting a ten-point lead down to four. However, the Mean Green prevailed to win the set, 25-21.
The fourth stanza started off about the same as the second with the score knotted at 2-2. But the Knights went up 4-2 following a kill from Abby Hansen and a service ace from Wilson. Back-to-back kills from Armour ignited a 4-0 spurt for the Knights, putting them up 12-8. The Mean Green kept up with the Black and Gold, staying within arm’s reach. Clark continued to dominate for the Knights, racking up three kills late in the set to give UCF some cushion. The Knights took the fourth set 25-19, to force a fifth set.
Claudia Dillon started the Knights off in the fifth set with a kill to go on a 4-0 rally. UCF continued to dominate as they shut down the Mean Green with eight kills on the set to earn the 15-8 win.
UCF heads to Purdue for the start of a four-match road trip.
The Knights will face off against Purdue and Illinois in the Boilermaker Challenge on Sept. 14-15.