ORLANDO – The UCF volleyball team jumped out to a strong start against the visiting Kansas State Wildcats, but was unable to hold a two-set advantage in its eventual five-set defeat (25-18, 25-22, 24-26, 13-25, 10-15) in its 2026 Big 12 Conference opener.
“When you play in a conference like this and you have a 2-0 lead, you have to take advantage of it, so I’m extremely disappointed that we weren’t able to do that here at home,” said head coach Matt Botsford. “Disappointed in the trajectory of the match after three sets, even after losing that third set, I felt like we were playing a much better brand of volleyball. I have to figure out what happened between the conclusion of set three into the fourth and fifth sets.”
The Knights (8-3, 0-1 Big 12) jumped out to an immediate commanding lead in the match’s opening set, clinching each of set one’s first six points on a pair of Alexa Haley service aces, two Abby Schomers kills and a kill by Avah Armour. The opening stretch marked the Black and Gold’s longest to begin any one set thus far in 2026.
The Wildcats (9-0, 1-0 Big 12) clawed back into the affairs, narrowing the Knights’ advantage to 9-7, but two straight Ella Chapman kills ignited another lengthy UCF scoring run, a stretch that saw the Black and Gold outscore K-State 7-0 to extend their lead to 16-7. Kiki Horne also notched a kill during the run, and Natasha Casey produced a pair of aces from the service line as well.
The two squads traded points the remainder of the frame, with neither recording more than two in a row until Armour’s third kill of the set clinched the stanza for her squad.
Chapman and Horne both matched Armour’s three kills in the set, while Haley and Casey paced the Knights with a pair of aces. Haley’s two aces matched a personal single-match season high as well, as she notched multiple aces for the third time this year and second time in her last two contests.
The Black and Gold later began the second frame in much the same fashion as the first, taking a quick 8-1 lead over the Wildcats on kills by Chapman, Armour and Fallon Stewart, accompanied by a handful of Kansas State errors.
The two squads battled through the remainder of a second stanza that was tied at 18, 19 and 20 points, but a trio of K-State errors to end the frame gave UCF a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Horne and Armour both paced UCF in kills once again, notching three apiece, and Nygeria Hart also produced a pair in the frame.
The Wildcats continued their gradual shifting of the contest’s momentum to their side in the third frame, though, dashing UCF’s bid for a sweep with hard-fought 26-24 triumph to force the fourth set. The two sides battled through seven lead changes and 19 different tied scores, but Kansas State emerged on top to force the fourth frame.
In complete command of the affairs throughout the next set, the Wildcats cruised to the decisive fifth set, outscoring UCF 25-13, and later staved off a Knights rally to clinch the match and remain unbeaten in 2026 with a 15-10 set five triumph.
Horne in the contest recorded a season high 16 kills, one shy of matching her single-match personal best of 17 against Southern California as a member of the UCLA Bruins Oct. 13, 2024. Armour also clinched her eighth match in double figures this season with 15 kills, and Schomers recorded a season high 40 assists in the loss as well, her most in a single match since she notched 43 against BYU Oct. 29, 2025.
UP NEXT
The Black and Gold will look to bounce back and return to the win column against the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames, Iowa Sept. 27. First serve from the Hilton Coliseum is set for 5 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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.