ORLANDO – Headlined by a 4-0 start in Big 12 play, the Knights will travel to Lubbock, Texas, for a matchup against Texas Tech on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. UCF boasts a 13-2 record heading into the matchup, while the Red Raiders have an 8-8 record on the season.
The Matchup
- The Knights hold a 1-1 record against the Red Raiders with the last matchup during the 1981 season when matches were scored using rally-scoring system, which means only the team serving could score a point. Sets were played to 15 points instead of 25, but matches could stretch on for hours at a time.
Scouting Texas Tech
- The Red Raiders head into the matchup with an 8-8 record and a three-game losing streak.
- Head coach Tony Graystone is in his eighth season with Texas Tech and 25th overall with a 553-274 record.
- Texas Tech returned nine players from last year’s team and brought in 11 newcomers.
- Both teams played North Texas this season and the Red Raiders lost 3-2, while the Knights won 3-2.
- The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 in team attacks per set with 36.72 and team digs with 990. They are ranked No. 2 in the Big 12 for total assists with 680.
Ace it up
- UCF is currently ranked No. 1 in the NCAA for aces per set with an average of 2.58 per set.
- Three Knights are ranked in the top 100 for service aces Emily Wilson (3rd), Claudia Dillon (69th) and Avah Armour (86th).
- Against North Texas, the Knights recorded a season-high 15 aces.
Knight in Shining Armour
- Freshman Avah Armour has started in every match this season as an outside hitter.
- Headlined by nine matches with double digits in kills along with a career-high of 17 kills against Cincinnati (9/21), she has recorded two double-doubles this season with one in the season opener and one in the first Big 12 match.
- Currently, she is the only freshman ranked in the Big 12 for service aces with 24.
Ace Queen
- Emily Wilson is ranked No. 1 in service aces per set (0.65) and total service aces (29) 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 her 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
- 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).
- She is a 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 joined the staff as a volunteer assistant.
- Erin Olson remained on staff as the director of operations.
New Faces
- The Knights added seven newcomers to the roster for the 2023 season.
- Four of those are freshmen and the other three are transfers.
- The freshmen include Avah Armour, Annika Sokol, Sasha Cohen and Doga Ocal.
- Three 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).
Welcome Back
- The Knights return eight players from last season’s team.
- 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 ended its era in the American Athletic Conference 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 38-36 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 four categories in the top 20 of the NCAA.
- 1st: 2.58 aces per set
- 2nd: 142 team service aces
- 11th: 0.290 hitting %
- 13th: 0.867 WL%
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.
- The Knights made 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.