It was a memorable day for the UCF volleyball team as they took a back-and-forth five-set victory (24-26, 25-17, 25-14, 21-25, 16-14) over Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon at The Venue. The Knights (19-8, 10-4 The American) improved to 13-2 on their home court and helped head coach Todd Dagenais earn his 100th-career victory.
The match featured high drama as the teams exchanged the lead 13 times to go along with 29 ties. The Bearcats (2-27, 2-13) showed off tremendous heart as they battled back from a 2-1 deficit to force a deciding fifth game with a four-point win in set four. The deciding stanza proved to be the most dramatic of all as the teams were deadlocked at one, two, three, four, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 before UCF put the match away with back-to-back points.
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Freshman outside hitter Taylor Gallart shined with 15 kills and eight digs while hitting .312. The Germantown, Md., native did not start the match, but once again provided a huge spark offensively for the Knights in relief. Senior Angelica Crump led the way with 19 kills on 50 swings, including four big hits in the final set. Junior DeLaina Sarden was solid in the middle, smacking 12 kills, hitting .312 and coming up with three block assists.
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Defensively is where the Black and Gold truly shined as they held Cincinnati to just a .117 attack percentage while racking up 68 digs and denying 13 shots at the net. Juniors Kaye-Alese Green and Loren Cory proved to be a formidable tandem block as they each set new-career highs with nine block assists apiece. Junior libero bounced back from her first single-digit dig effort in two months on Friday with a team-high 28 digs (5.60 per set). Freshman Shelby Foyer also got into the act from her middle back spot with 11 digs, her double-digit dig performance of her rookie season.
The Knights return to action next week for their last two home matches of the season against SMU and Houston. Friday night 麻豆精品 S檚 contest v. the Mustangs will be 麻豆精品 S淔amily Night 麻豆精品 S� as family members of all players will be honored. That evening will also see the 2003 UCF Volleyball team celebrate its 10-year anniversary of reaching the NCAA tournament. Sunday 麻豆精品 S檚 home finale against the Cougars is 麻豆精品 S淪enior Day 麻豆精品 S� and will honor UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 two outgoing seniors, Crump and Roxy Mendez.