The UCF volleyball team is the 2020-21 American Athletic Conference East division champions as the Knights secured a perfect, 8-0 conference record after sweeping South Florida for the second night in a row Saturday in The Venue.
“I could not be more proud of this group of women and group of coaches,”says head coach Todd Dagenais.”The last 13 months have been beyond comprehension in terms of putting it into words… The mental and emotional toll that it takes… And yet, as we watch teams all across the country crack or fail, we never did.”
With the win, the Knights finish the regular season with an undefeated record in conference play, a feat that has not been accomplished since 2018 when UCF went a perfect, 18-0 against AAC competition. In 2019, UCF rode the momentum of its home fans and stormed to a five-set victory over No. 1 seed Cincinnati to claim the inaugural AAC Volleyball Championship tournament title.
The Knights posted a perfect, 8-0 record against American opponents in 2020-21, outscoring them 24-1 along the way. UCF has won 49 of its last 51 matches in The American dating back to 2017.
The Knights again made quick work of the Bulls in the contest, opening set one with a 25-23 win before taking set two by a nine-point margin and finishing the match off with a 25-22 victory.
Coach Dagenais and Associate Head Coach Jenny Maurer spread the offensive production around about as evenly as possible as six different Knights posted over five kills and none posted more than nine.
Leading the way, Anne-Marie Watson finished with a team-high nine kills, hitting .412 along the way and chiming in with three block assists.
Nerissa Moravec continued on her career season as the senior middle blocker turned in a six-block performance and also knocked down six kills while hitting at a team-high .750 clip.
Following the weekend sweep over South Florida, UCF will now turn it’s attention to the postseason as the Knights will head to Cincinnati, Ohio to play in the second annual American Athletic Conference Championship Tournament. UCF will play Tulane in the semifinal game on Friday, April 2 at 2:00 p.m. The Knights faced The Green Wave at home earlier this season, defeating them twice, both 3-1.
