UCF volleyball will be playing Temple and Connecticut for a pair of conference matches this Friday and Sunday in their own territory at The Venue at UCF.
The Knights (9-5, 2-0 AAC) opened the American Athletic Conference season on the road with major wins against SMU and Tulsa last weekend. UCF took the win over Tulsa with a 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 25-17) victory. The Knights take their win to a new record for defeating both programs for the first time on the road in the same season.
Up first, UCF will take on the Temple Owls (10-4, 1-1 AAC) Friday, October 3 at 7:00 p.m. ET. It won’t be an easy task for the Knights, as Temple is coming into this matchup with a strong defensive unit and a team that comes into the competition aggressively. UCF will then go on to play UConn (9-4, 2-0, AAC) early Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. ET.
The Knight’s will face tough competition in these weekends’ match-ups. Temple swept ECU for their first American conference wins last week by scores of 25-19, 25-22 and 25-13, not once allowing their opponents to tie the score throughout the match. The Owls brought the heat in the third set, with 14 kills and zero errors for a hitting percentage of .519. UCF will need to stay aggressive and attack opponents throughout the entire match this Friday if they plan on coming out with the win.
UCF can also expect to give it their all this weekend to take the title from UConn, but the Huskies won’t give it up too easily. UConn will be searching for its third-straight American Athletic Conference win after downing Temple and East Carolina in last weeks’ match-ups. Last season, UCF brought home the win against UConn, 3-1, on Nov. 10 with a killer performance from the Knights offensive and defensive teams.
Despite the tough competition UCF faces in this weekends challenges, the Knights still pose a huge threat with great players leading the team. Sophomore outside hitter, Jale Harvey led the Knights with 17 kills while hitting .500 in the match against Tulsa. Junior Dana Faught racked up 28 assists, bringing out true power to the teams momentum. Senior Libero Jade Hayes recorded a match-high 19 digs and served up an ace as Kaye-Alese Green trailed with 7 blocks.
UCF will come into this Friday’s game with 62 kills, 60 assists, 54 digs, and 12-5 blocks. The Knights finished last weekends’ matches with a .371 hitting percentage as a team and plan on bringing that heat back into their home territory, this Friday night against Temple, for some major throw downs.
