ORLANDO – The UCF volleyball team rounds out the week with a matchup against Kansas State on Saturday, Oct. 14 in The Venue. The Knights boast a 6-0 start in Big 12 play with an overall record of 15-2.
The Matchup
- UCF heads into the tough slate of its schedule starting with Kansas State on Saturday. The remaining opponents were ranked above UCF in the Big 12 preseason rankings.
- The Wildcats hold a 2-1 record against the Knights. UCF came out on top in the most recent matchup last season (2022) earning a 3-2 win in the UCF Challenge.
- A battle of the new head coaches as the Knights have Jenny Maurer and Jason Mansfield for the Wildcats. Coach Maurer has been around UCF for the past seven years as an associate head coach while Coach Mansfield has been an assistant coach for 19 years at the Division I level.
Scouting Kansas State
- The Wildcats head into the matchup with a 10-6 record and off of a 3-0 sweep against No. 25 Iowa State on Oct. 11.
- Kansas State has upset two opponents this season with No. 18 Baylor (10/5) and No. 25 Iowa State (10/11).
- Head coach Jason Mansfield is in his first season with Kansas State and first overall as a head coach. Prior to Kansas State, he was an assistant coach at Washington for the past five years and was an assistant coach for the past 20 years.
- Kansas State returned 11 players from last year’s team and brought in six newcomers.
- As a team, the Wildcats are ranked No. 2 in team opposing hitting percentage (.159) in the Big 12.
- Mackenzie Morris is ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 for digs per set with 4.75 and No. 2 in total digs (271).
Double-Trouble Trio
- Three Knights have recorded double-doubles this season led by Emily Wilson with five followed by Abby Schomers with three and Avah Armour with two.
- Wilson and Armour each produced a double-double in the first match of the season against Navy.
- As a setter, Schomers dished out 46 assists to mark her first double-double of her career.
Taking Big Steps in the Big 12
- The Knights have started out their inaugural season in the Big 12 with a 6-0 start
- UCF opened Big 12 play with a familiar foe, Cincinnati, as the Knights and Bearcats moved to the Big 12 conference this season from the American Athletic Conference.
- Since Big 12 play started the Black and Gold have only lost two sets, which is the fewest of any team in the Big 12. Texas is 5-0 in Big 12 play but has lost three sets.
Ace it up
- Currently ranked No. 1 in the NCAA for aces per set with an average of 2.57 per set.
- Three Knights are ranked in the top 100 for aces per set Emily Wilson (1st), Claudia Dillon (67th) and Avah Armour (75th).
- Against North Texas, the Knights came out strong with the serves firing a season-high 15 aces.
Knight in Shining Armour
- Headlined by seven matches with double digits in kills along with a career-high of 17 kills against Cincinnati (9/21).
- Armour has recorded two double-doubles this season in the first non-conference and first Big 12 match.
- Currently, she is the only freshman ranked in the Big 12 for service aces with 20.
Ace Queen
- Emily Wilson is ranked no. 1 in service aces per set (0.62) and total service aces (36) in the Big 12 standings.
- In the most recent matchup against Oklahoma, Wilson recorded a career-high six service aces in the 3-1 win.
5-0 Start
- Headlined by a 5-0 start, head coach Jenny Maurer becomes the first UCF head coach in the DI Era to start the season 5-0 in their first season as head coach.
- Three Knights were named to the UAlbany All-Tournament Team: Abby Hansen (MVP), Abby Schomers and Avah Armour.
- Claudia Dillon earned the All-Tournament team for the UCF Challenge.
The Jenny Maurer Era
- Jenny Maurer was named head coach of UCF volleyball in May 2023.
- She is no stranger to UCF as she has been a member of the coaching staff since 2016.
- Her resume includes nine years as a Division I head coach --Lehigh (4) and Bradley (5).
- Two-time DIII National Champion (1995 and 1996) as a player at Washington University in St. Louis.
Rounding Out The Staff
- Maurer added two associate head coaches to her staff along with a volunteer assistant.
- Jason Tanaka, a 25-year collegiate coaching veteran with Big 12 experience (Baylor, TCU).
- Michaela Franklin, former Big 12 volleyball champion (Kansas State) and nationally recognized recruiter.
- Tyler Hubbard-Neil, a former professional volleyball player joins the staff as a volunteer assistant.
- Erin Olson stays on the staff as the Director of Operations.
Calling All Newbies
- The Knights have added a total of seven newcomers to the roster.
- Four of those are freshmen and the other three are transfers.
- The freshmen include Avah Armour, Annika Sokol, Sasha Cohen and Doga Ocal.
- Three out of the four freshmen are from Colorado and Ocal is from Turkey.
- The transfer trio includes Lauren Clark (FGCU/ Penn State), Britt Carlson (Washington State) and Megan Holland (South Carolina).
Bringing ‘Em Back
- The Knights return eight from the previous season.
- Key returners for UCF include Abby Hansen, Claudia Dillon, Chloe Scheer, Emily Wilson, Katelyn Grimes and Heidi Bonde who all saw playing time last year.
Five Peat AAC Champions
- UCF volleyball ends an era in the American with five consecutive championships.
- The Knights started their inaugural season in the American in 2013 and ended in 2023 accounting for 11 overall championship titles.
New Kids On The Block
- UCF officially joined the Big 12 Conference on July 1, 2023.
- The Knights enter the Power 5 as the youngest school, having been founded in 1963 to supply NASA with engineers.
- UCF joins the conference with Cincinnati, Houston and BYU to push the conference to 13 volleyball programs.
- The Black and Gold are 43-36 against current Big 12 schools. The Knights were ranked No. 9 in the Big 12 preseason poll.
- In the AVCA poll, the Knights are one of seven Big 12 schools that are ranked or receiving votes.
Knights In The Rankings
- UCF is ranked in three categories in the top 10 of the NCAA.
- 1st: 2.57 aces per set
- 5th: 149 team service aces
- 8th: 0.296 hitting %
European Tour
- UCF enjoyed a successful foreign tour this summer after visiting the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy playing six matches against international opponents.
- Traveling from Orlando to Czech Republic, the team began its trip in Prague, walking around Old Town and the city.
- While in Prague, the Knights played back-to-back matches against the Czech national team.
- A short trip to Brno, where UCF played the U22 Brno team along with touring in the downtown area.
- Sightseeing in Budapest featured the Buda Castle, the Parliament building and the Danube.
- Kicking off its time in Maribor, UCF held a clinic for about 30 youth, presenting a further opportunity to get to know the local people and share some of the team’s volleyball knowledge and skills.
- Outside of the team’s two matches in Slovenia, the Knights rode a ski lift up part of the mountain to ride the alpine slide down the mountain and went for a bike ride to the city center of Maribor. For dinner, the team took a gondola up Pohorje Mountain on top of the mountain.
- UCF took a pit stop in Lake Bled, Slovenia for a few hours on the way to Italy which included a gondola ride to the church in the middle of the lake, swimming and enjoying the famous Lake Bled cake.
- Once in Italy, the Black and Gold checked out the amenities at the resort which included multiple pools and a hot spring. The team concluded their trip in Venice with a full day of sightseeing.
Home Court Advantage
- UCF reached a 22-match home win streak from Oct. 10, 2021 – Sept. 2, 2023.
- The Knights boasted a 13-0 record at home in 2022.
- UCF has only lost four games at home in the past three seasons.
- In 2022, the Black and Gold won the AAC Championship at home in a five-set thriller against Houston for a share of the championship title.
- With the move into the Big 12, season tickets have been selling like crazy.
- The Knights have sold a record number of season tickets.