MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It was a battle until the end for UCF’s final road match of the regular season, but the Knights found a way to come out on top, 3-2, over West Virginia. After a tumultuous start to the Big 12 season, UCF Volleyball has won eight of it’s last nine contests and sit above .500 in league matches.
Quick Hits
- The Knights are riding a five-match win streak, pushing back from an 0-6 start to league play and sitting at 8-7.
- Natasha Casey matched her career high in kills, 14, and set a career mark with six blocks, hitting .667 in the five-setter with no errors.
- Kiki Horne also tied her career high with 17 kills. The junior has amassed 32 on the weekend, adding in her 15 from Friday’s match at Cincinnati.
How It Happened
UCF jumped out to a quick lead in the first set, reaching 10 first on strong performances from Casey and Sasha Cohen. The middle was dominant on the offensive and defensive ends, slamming home a kill followed by an immediate service ace. After short runs from both programs, West Virginia found rhythm following the media timeout, capitalizing on service errors and setting a solid block. Kills from Avah Armour and Ella Chapman tried to get the team back in the set, but were unsuccessful as UCF fell 25-18 in the opening game.
Momentum shifted in the second set following a Natasha Casey roll shot kill to the opposite sideline, paired with an aggressive service ace from Fallon Stewart. She was the architect of the final run for the Knights behind the service line, getting the Mountaineers out of rhythm on their attack. WVU got one back, but UCF was able to sideout immediately on an Avah Armour kill. Just as the run began, Casey was the deciding point in the second set with a monster kill to close it out 25-22.
The Black and Gold opened third set with the same fire on an immediate sideout and an ace from Cohen that dropped just at the back line. The pins were on fire in the first half of the third set with a barrage of kills, but it was another solo block by Cohen that put the Knights in the lead heading into the media timeout. Horne was instrumental in the point immediately after the break, saving a wild dig and then getting the kill on her next attempt. Armour stuffed the Mountaineer attack to put an exclamation point on a thrilling third set for all involved, her first solo block of the match to win the set 28-26.
Cohen sent over another ace on her first attempt of the fourth set, tying her career high with three total. West Virginia took off with the set in the middle section, jumping out with a couple of well-placed kills and some unforced UCF errors. The Knights struggled with timing on attacks, hitting just .172 in the fourth set after earning a .333 clip in the second and .400 in the third, and falling 25-20 to force a fifth.
Armour put down her 12th and 13th kill of the match to open the fifth set, firing heavy on two backrow attacks. After forcing a Mountaineer timeout just three points in, Alexa Haley placed a short serve over the net and got back to get a perfect pass up for a Horne kill. Exchanging kills for a couple of points, UCF pulled away at 9-4 in the deciding set in part due to a Casey kill and a massive block from the freshman and Chapman. The Mountaineers pulled back within striking distance, but the Knights refused to give up, closing out the set just as it began, with back-to-back kills from Armour.
Up Next
The Knights return home for their final trio of matches on the season. UCF host Colorado Sunday for Senior Knight, with first serve set for 1 p.m.