Fall Sports Media Day: Volleyball, Men's and Women's Soccer Kickstart Olympic Sport Action

ORLANDO – Ahead of a jam-packed fall slate, which will feature 39 home events across football, volleyball, and men's and women's soccer, local media had a chance to speak to the head coaches and players of the latter trio of programs as regular-season action commences later this week.

Volleyball head coach Matt Botsford, women's soccer head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak and men's soccer head coach Scott Calabrese took the mic to preview each of their exciting teams. Select student-athletes from each sport also emphasized their excitement for the new athletics season.

2026 SEASON OUTLOOK

• The Knights open the season from Aug. 28-30 with the Black & Gold Classic, as their
  non-conference schedule is highlighted by four Power Four matches.
• Reigning All-American Avah Armour returns after being named to the All-Big 12 First
  Team in 2025, and fittingly, the 2026 Big 12 Preseason Team. She’ll be joined by Abby Schomers who embarks on her fourth-consecutive season as the starting setter (currently sits fifth all-time in career assists at UCF).
• Other key retunring pieces include fourth-year Knight Sasha Cohen and junior Fallon Stewart, who each attributed on the offensive and defensive end a season ago.
• After being named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team, Alexa Haley will serve as a key return- ing piece alongside a talented five-player sophomore class.
• Four freshmen and three transfers make up the newcomers this season, with UCLA transfer Kiki Horne and 2025 AVCA Two-Year College Player of the Year Chloe Albiez being key attacking pieces ahead of the campaign.

2025 SEASON RECAP

• In Botsford’s first season at UCF, the Knights saw the second-highest year-over-year RPI
  growth in the Power Four, jumping from 204th in 2024 to 63rd.
• Along with RPI growth, the Knights nearly doubled their win total from the season prior,
  with their 17 victories compared to nine the season prior marking a clear sign of growth.
• The Knights toppled two top-25 opponents (No. 17 BYU in Provo and No. 24 Iowa State at home), as Botsford became the first coach to achieve multiple ranked wins in year one.

2026 SEASON OUTLOOK

• The Knights tied their best finish in the program’s Big 12 era a season ago by taking sixth last year with a 5-1-5 league mark. UCF went 12-4-5 overall.
• The Black and Gold were recently picked to finish eighth out of 16 teams in the confer- ence’s preseason coaches’ poll that was released earlier in the month.
• UCF welcomes back five starters and 13 returning letterwinners from the 2025 squad. The
  Knights also welcome in 10 newcomers – seven transfers and three freshmen.
• Head coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak is back for her 14th season at the helm of UCF women’s soccer. She is a current assistant coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team.
• UCF lost 50% of its goal production from 2025 with Liz Worden and Rajanah Reed having both gone pro. Gabi Berchon is the team’s top returning goal scorer with three goals a season ago. Senior transfer Naomi Clark scored eight goals at Oklahoma last year. 
• Maria Tregansin has been named the squad’s team captain for the second straight year

2025 SEASON RECAP

• Women’s Soccer finished sixth in the Big 12 standings a season ago en route to earning
  the program’s 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance. 
• UCF recorded a 2-0 victory over Maine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on its
  way to advancing to a second round contest at Duke.
• Five Knights earned All-Big 12 honors in 2025 and redshirt senior midfielder Maria
  Tregansin is the lone returner from the group (All-Big 12 Second Team honors in 2025).

2026 SEASON OUTLOOK

• The Knights bring 15 returners from the 2025 roster to the squad this fall, and will
  welcome 13 newcomers to the program, including five freshmen.
• Redshirt-junior forward Drew Hansen represents the team’s top returning goal-scorer
  with three, after becoming the first Knight with back-to-back postseason game-winning
  goals since 2021. He first scored the 104th-minute GWG in UCF’s SBC Tournament dou- ble-overtime win over (4) Georgia Southern, and later scored the only goal of the game
  in the Knights’ 1-0 win over (1) Kentucky to help clinch a championship match berth.
• The Knights return both of their 2025 All-Sun Belt Conference Freshman Team selections
  in defender Jem Hewlett and forward/midfielder Seiryu Ono. Hewlett appeared in 20 of
  the Knights’ 21 total matches in 2025, including 18 starts, and scored two goals through- out his first collegiate season; Ono appeared in 13 games and totaled 235 minutes while
  scoring his first career goal against UTRGV Aug. 27.
• UCF will square off against the Clemson Tigers for the first time since the Knights bested
  then-No. 9 Clemson, 2-1, on the road Aug. 24, 2023, an effort that helped UCF rise to earn
  the first No. 1 national ranking in a regular-season poll in UCF Athletics history. 

2025 SEASON RECAP

• After beginning the season 2-5-1 through eight games, UCF went 9-2-2 through its final
  13 matches of the season, including wins over (4) Georgia Southern, (1) Kentucky and (3)
  Marshall to claim the first Sun Belt Tournament Championship in program history.
• With wins over then-No. 11 Georgia Southern (3-0), then-No. 19 Kentucky (1-0) and then No. 12 Marshall (3-1), UCF notched its first season with 3+ ranked wins in program history.
• The Knights hosted an NCAA Tournament match for the second time in three years.

About UCF Athletics
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida's preeminent athletic program representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as "Orlando's Hometown Team". To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.