Where did Miners go wrong in season finale? – Volleyball
UCF Women’s volleyball team spoiled the season finale of UTEP Miners with by a 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-21) win on Tuesday, November 22. The two arch-rivals met in the last game of the season at Memorial Gym in El Paso, Texas. The Knights performed amazingly
well and added another impressive win to their list of accomplishments for 2011. On the other hand, Miners suffered the loss of a crucial final game of the regular season and left the court with heavy hearts. Miners could not manage to save a single frame
in the match and their team collapsed. Looking at their game play, it seems the reason for their defeat was their weak defence strategy. UCF easily broke through the UTEP defence line and rallied past to a 3-0 victory.
Point-to-point analysis
Knights came up with strong offense in the opening set and produced solid thumps over the net. On the other side of the court, Miners were not ready to handle the early strike of Knights and gave out four points in a row. UCF built up a 5-1 lead and got
the perfect opportunity to put pressure on UTEP. Meanwhile, Miners managed to get on board due to Knights’ errors but failed to use it for further advantage. Knights bounced back with 7-0 run and took the game to a new level. UTEP could not stop Delaina Sarden
of Knights, who went on a scoring spree. Finally, UCF sealed first-set win at 25-13.
Victory in opening set gave a big boost to the Knights. They further tightened the screws on the Miners with powerful spikes and tricky bump passes. On account of dropping the first set, Miners were under pressure and they could hardly resist the Knights’
score. After the second technical timeout, Miners managed to land some good shots in their opponent’s half and had the chance to carry on with sensible play but once again they lost track. UCF achieved set points in the first place and improved to 2-0 in the
match.
Loss of two sets made it quite difficult for Miners to make a come back, yet they displayed a valiant effort in the third set. They came close to Knights but the rival side had already earned a strong spot in the game. They played fast and announced match
victory by handing over third-set defeat to Miners.
Player distinctions
Senior Stephanie Figueroa and Marie-Therese Joyce, who were honoured before the match, put up good effort for Miners. They added 16 and three digs, respectively. Joyce also got her hands on six kills and three blocks. Angelica Crump paced things for Knights
in the match. She actively participated in the attack and totalled match-high 18 kills. On the whole, UCF recorded 47 kills to opponent’s 27 in the match. USF’s Senior Rachel Vukson was credited with match-high 41 assists, 9 digs and two service aces.
Post-match
The Head coach of Knights, Todd Dagenais, praised the hard work of his players. He disclosed his thoughts after the match. "At this point we have done all we can do in terms of trying to build a NCAA Tournament resume, so now we just have to wait and see
what happens with the rest of the country," Dagenais said. "We understand that we are probably on the outside part of the bubble, but we are really excited to be in that position of having the 20-win season and at least putting ourselves into consideration.
With splendid victory over Miners, the UCF improved to the win/loss record of 20-11, while the losing side concluded the season with final digits of the19-14. Knights have more matches in the next month and they will surely try to improve on their statistics.
However, the season has ended for Miners and they will have to stick to these numbers until the start of next season.
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