QUICK HITS
- The Knights tallied their most aces in a three-set match this season, landing 10 in the Mountaineers’ half. Freshman Sarah Mendoza led the charge with four aces, matching her career-high.
- Armour paced UCF’s attack once again, notching 17 kills to continue her blazing stretch to open up Big 12 play. The junior has tallied 99 kills in six conference matches, with an eye-catching 78 kills across her last four contests. Armour also led the Knights in digs this afternoon with six.
- Abby Schomers has been finding her rhythm with UCF’s flying offense, with her 31 assists against West Virginia securing the redshirt-junior her third match in four with 30 or more assists to her name.
- The Black and Gold hit .341 with 41 kills, securing their fourth-best hitting percentage of the season and second-highest in Big 12 play. UCF also held West Virginia to a minimal 0.191 mark, the 11th time this season the Knights have held their opponents to sub-.200.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Knights jumped out to a strong 12-6 lead in the opening set, forcing West Virginia to call a timeout after a 3-0 scoring run. Led by Armour’s seven kills, UCF maintained the lead the entire set to secure the early advantage, 25-19.
It was a back-and-forth battle in the second set, with both sides exchanging blows. While the hosts held a 10-7 lead through the early stages, Armour and the UCF defense put the Knights back in the contest, with the Mountaineers calling a timeout at 20-18.
After the break, the Black and Gold flipped a switch, scoring five of the last six points, with Skylar English capping off the run with back-to-back kills to end the set 25-19.
While a two-set lead placed the Knights in a strong position heading into the third, West Virginia continued to find points as it looked to crawl back in the contest. No team could put together consecutive points until UCF pulled out to a 6-4 lead, though, similar to the second, the Mountaineers composed a four-point lead to force a UCF timeout.
With a sweep in sight, the Knights locked in and fended off the West Virginia surge, with the well-rounded attack swinging them back into the lead. Freshman Alexa Haley caused chaos for the visitors at the service line, tallying an ace which set up a strong stretch to finish off the contest, with English once again doing the honors on her ninth kill of the day.
UP NEXT
UCF’s three-match homestand will come to a close Friday night, welcoming in Arizona to The Venue for the program’s 50th Anniversary Celebration and Alumni Match. First Serve is set for 6 p.m.
