Fall Sports Media Day Gets Olympic Sports Started

ORLANDO – As the Florida heat dips from its summer peak, UCF’s fall sports are just starting to warm up. The soccer pitch is freshly painted, the volleyball court rolled out and the calendar is jam-packed to get the athletic year underway.

New head coach Matt Botsford takes the reins of UCF volleyball, eager to push the program to the next level. But first, the familiar faces of soccer head coaches Scott Calabrese and Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak will lead their squads onto the pitch as early as this weekend. All three head coaches, as well as select student-athletes from each team, spoke with the media ahead of the first whistle of fall competition.

Embarking on his first season leading UCF volleyball, head coach Matt Botsford fielded questions from the media for the first time since his introductory press conference in January. The ninth-winningest active head coach in the nation, Botsford brings a wealth of experience with him to Orlando, along with associate head coach Kate Morrell and a pair of talented transfers.

In over a decade in Southwest Florida, Botsford collected 11 Atlantic Sun titles and guided his teams into the NCAA tournament on five occasions. 

While he retains six Knights from the 2024 squad, nine newcomers will bolster the roster ahead of the 2025 campaign. FGCU transfer Skylar English was joined by Abby Schomers and Big 12 Preseason Team honoree Avah Armour for breakout sessions following Botsford’s time on the podium.

Fans will have their first chance to see the new-look Knights on Saturday, August 23, for an exhibition against South Florida before the Black and Gold open the regular-season slate with matches against Chattanooga, Norfolk State and UC Riverside from August 29-31.

With his newly-signed two-year contract extension now official, ninth-year UCF men's soccer head coach Scott Calabrese looks to continue building upon back-to-back top three finishes in the Sun Belt regular season table in 2023 and 2024.

Among UCF's returning class are senior goalkeeper Juanvi Muñoz, owner of the seventh-best goals-against average by a netminder in program history, and former Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year Clarence Awoudor, who notched a team-best seven assists in 2024, good for second most in the league.

The Knights will also bring a sizeable signing class into the fold this fall, with 17 newcomers looking to make their respective marks in Orlando.

UCF was ranked as high as No. 10 in the nation in the United Soccer Coaches' national top 25 last year (Week 3), marking the first time since the 2018 and 2019 seasons the program climbed into the national top 10 in back-to-back seasons. The Knights men's soccer squad in 2023 notably claimed the first No. 1 national ranking in a regular-season poll in UCF Athletics history (Weeks 9 and 10).

Coach Roberts Sahaydak likes what she sees from her 2025 Knights and is excited for the season to get underway this week. Back for her 13th season at the helm, the Olympic gold medalist, World Cup champion and two-time NCAA champion has brought in 12 newcomers to the fold this year to look to help take the Black and Gold to the next level.

Entering its third season of competition in the Big 12 Conference this year, UCF women’s soccer will look to get back to the program’s long-standing winning tradition after going 3-6-6 overall a season ago and 1-5-4 in league play. Under Roberts Sahaydak, the program has made the NCAA Tournament five times and claimed four conference titles.

Big things are expected from the front line in senior transfers Liz Worden (Long Beach State) and Rajanah Reed (Washington State), as well as senior midfielder Hannah Boughton (Baylor) and sophomore midfielder Ainsley Moy (TCU). Of the group, three of the four have previously played in the Big 12, as Worden previously played at Texas, Boughton at Baylor and Moy at TCU. Redshirt freshman midfielder Gabi Berchon and freshman forward/defender Kalena Bellini (Lehi, Utah) will also look to be key contributors around the goal as well as a number of returners, including sophomore forwards Edidiong Etim, Ella Holloran, and junior midfielder Honoka Hamano.

UCF women’s soccer will officially open its 2025 slate Thursday at 8 p.m. at UAB. Following Thursday night’s season opener, the Knights will return to the UCF Soccer Complex to welcome Florida Atlantic to town for their 2025 home opener on Sunday at 6 p.m. The contest will open a three-match homestand, as South Florida will come to town on Aug. 21, followed by LSU on Aug. 24. UCF will then open Big 12 play on Sept. 18 at home against West Virginia.

SINGLE GAME & SEASON TICKETS
Single game and season tickets for football, volleyball and men's and women's soccer are on sale now! Tickets can be purchased online at ucfknights.com/tickets or by calling the ticket office at (407) 823-1000.

FALL SPORTS BEGIN
The women's soccer team opens its 2025 regular season home slate gainst Florida Atlantic on Sunday, Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. while the men's soccer team's first home regular season game is on Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m against UTRGV. UCF football kicks off on Thursday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. against Jacksonville State, leading into volleyball's opening match of the campaign, hosting Chattanooga on Friday, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m.