ORLANDO - UCF volleyball dropped their Friday night showdown versus Cincinnati in straight sets (25-22, 31-29, and 25-18) at The Venue.
Avah Armour paced the Black and Gold with 19 kills, while Kiki Horne and Ella Chapman notched 11 and 8 of their own. Abby Schomers continued to rack up assists for the Knights, recording 32 in just three sets.
How It Happened
The Knights began set one with a 5-1 lead, highlighted by a Fallon Stewart ace to begin the match and a 4-0 scoring run that featured two Armour kills, as well as another ace by Alexa Haley. The visiting Bearcats responded with two separate 4-0 scoring runs of their own to take a 15-12 lead by the first media timeout.
This back and forth exchange lasted until Cincinnati took a 24-19 lead. In the ensuing set point, the Knights took a vital rally that encapsulated the energy of the first set. However, the Black and Gold comeback attempt was thwarted by the Bearcats, as the visitors took the set 25-22 with a kill from Ligia Williams.
In a hard fought first set, the Knights spread their kills evenly amongst themselves. Armour led the way with six kills, with Kiki Horne slightly trailing behind with four of her own. Armour also logged an ace in the set.
UCF came out of the set break with a vengeance, taking the first three points of set two in commanding fashion. Matching their style of play from the first set, the Bearcats came storming back with another 4-0 scoring run. The two sides continued to oscillate throughout the beginning of the set, with Cincinnati taking a 15-12 lead at the media timeout.
While the Knights came out of the break with a 4-1 run to tie things up at 16-16 thanks to a series of kills by Armour, Chapman and Horne, the visitors continued to fend off the charging Knights, once again taking a 24-20 advantage after a 8-4 run.
Similar to the first set, the Knights did not go down without a fight, as they fired off a 4-0 run to tie the set up at 24.
Once it was all tied up again, the Knights found themselves down 25-24, 26-25, 27-26, 28-27, and 29-28, as the Black and Gold showcased immense grit and perseverance. Notably, UCF tied the set at 26 after another rally that ended with a Sarah Mendoza kill.
Ultimately, the Knights dropped the thrilling set by a score of 31-29. In all, the set saw 60 total points, 11 ties, and five lead changes.
After switching sides for the third set, both squads continued their first and second set trends, splitting the first eight points of the set in even fashion.
After the Bearcats began to pull away with a commanding 22-12 set lead, the Knights fired off a 5-2 run, thanks to the continued strong play of Armour, Horne, Chapman, and Stewart. While the Black and Gold were able to cut the Bearcat lead to seven heading into the match point, Cincinnati was able to prevail and secure the win, taking the final set of the match by a score of 25-18.
Up Next
UCF will remain at The Venue on Sunday afternoon to face No. 19 Kansas. The contest will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on ESPN+, with live stats available to follow on UCF.StatBroadcast.com.