QUICK HITS
- Reaghan Thompson surpassed 400 career blocks with a season-high 12 on the day. The senior becomes one of 10 active DI players with 400 to her name, though she leads that field in kills (847) as her versatility continues to turn heads.
- English pieced together another career-defining performance, with her nine aces surpassing her total of eight against FIU earlier this month and propelling her past 200 in her career (active DI leader).
- Abby Schomers continued her climb up the record books with 29 assists on the day, passing former Knight Andree Youngblood (2006-09) as the redshirt-junior now holds 2,394 to her name.
- Freshman Alexa Haley made her first-career start in the win, looking the part with a career-high 16 digs. Fellow first-year Mikayla Porter also notched a career-high 15 assists, aiding in key points down the stretch.
- The team's 14 blocks mark the most by the Knights since October 30, 2022, against Wichita State, when UCF secured 15 in a similar 3-1 win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Knights set the tone early in the opening set with a quick 3-0 run, headlined by a Sasha Cohen kill and a block courtesy of Reaghan Thompson and Avah Armour, with the former later tallying a solo block to emphasize UCF’s presence at the net throughout the contest.
Each squad exchanged blows before the Black and Gold began to pull away, sparked by Skylar English’s first of two aces in the first. After building a buffer between the two teams, UCF put the finishing touches on a 25-21 first-set triumph after Ella Chapman found the surface on the end of a nice assist from freshman Mikayla Porter.
A key contributor to the Knights’ hot start was their physicality on defense, something that carried over into the next set as Thompson and Cohen swiftly tallied another block. A solo from Armour preceded a stalemate before Memphis eventually called a timeout after a pair of attack errors.
Out of the break, UCF was able to fend off a surge from the Tigers, fittingly due to its continued residence at the net, tallying a pair of blocks, followed by a Thompson kill to grow its lead to four. At 20-18, alternating kills from Armour and English secured the second set (25-21) and a firm control of the bout.
Memphis, similar to last night’s defeat against host Alabama, wouldn’t go down quietly. The Tigers stormed out to a 7-1 lead, which they would maintain, albeit a four-point run from the Knights that would bring the third set within four. Memphis carried on its control of the game, however, forcing a fourth set with a 25-21 win of its own.
Botsford has stressed the resilience of his squad throughout the non-conference slate, a sentiment that was easy to see as the Knights charged out to a 5-0 lead in the set.
The difference maker? Four aces from the active DI leader Skylar English. The fifth year surpassed 200 collegiate aces during the stretch and forced Memphis to take an early timeout. Continued disruption of any Tigers attack with a season-best blocking performance from the Black and Gold halted any comeback from the opposition. A six-point run from Memphis forced a pair of timeouts from Botsford, a decision that would get his group back on track.
With the score reading 19-15 UCF, the Knights laid the Tigers to rest with kills from English and Armour, before Chapman connected on a pair of Schomers sets to finish off the match.
UP NEXT
A non-conference finale against Alabama will conclude the Crimson Classic, with an early evening first serve set for 6 p.m. ET.
