LAWRENCE, Kan. – The UCF volleyball team fell in three sets to No. 9 Kansas on Wednesday night inside the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.
The Knights (7-3, 0-1) recorded 49 kills on the night, while the Jayhawks (10-1, 1-0) tallied 50 kills and four blocks.
Britt Carlson led the Knights with 13 kills and a .435 attacking percentage. Avah Armour and Emily Wilson each notched 11 kills, while Sasha Cohen added 10. Chloe Scheer led the match with 14 digs and served up an ace.
Armour started the Black and Gold off with a kill to get on the board first but the Jayhawks quickly answered with a 5-0 scoring run. Back-to-back kills helped the Knights get within three points, 13-10. The Jayhawks proceeded with the lead and increased it following a 4-0 spurt, 22-13. Kansas went on to take the set, 25-16.
The second set featured 20 ties, a season high for the Knights. An early 12-9 lead for the Knights forced Kansas to burn a timeout following a 3-0 run with two kills from Armour. The Jayhawks knotted the score at 14 and the back-and-forth affair began throughout the rest of the set until Kansas rallied with a 3-0 run to take the second set 31-29.
A kill from Cohen led off the third set for the Knights although the Jayhawks were quick to answer. Wilson tied the set up 3-3 with a kill but from then on Kansas took the lead and ran with it. The Black and Gold still had some fight, as back-to-back kills from Carlson knotted the set at 19 and forced a Kansas timeout. The battle continued to ensue between the Knights and Jayhawks as Cohen recorded a kill to create a 22-22 deadlock. The momentum shifted after Kansas recorded back-to-back kills en route to a 25-22 set win.
UCF continues its travel in Kansas with a stop in Manhattan for Friday’s matchup against Kansas State at 7 p.m.