Knight Cap: Conference Play Underway

Plus: Men’s Tennis begins fall slate

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Over this past week, the UCF Knights sports world saw the first matches of conference play amongst the major fall Olympic sports. Meanwhile, the golf squads got back out on the course and tennis joins the fray as well.

We also have our Knight of the Week and Play of the Week in this Monday, Sept. 22 edition of Knight Cap.

Women’s Soccer Opens Big 12 Slate with Draw

The UCF Women’s Soccer team opened Big 12 play Thursday night with a scoreless draw against West Virginia.

Despite

the Knights (6-1-1, 0-0-1 Big 12) winning the possession battle, getting seven corner kicks to Mountaineers’ two and outshooting the Mountaineers 14-8, none of their four shots on target could find the back of the net. This does not include a missed penalty kick by forward Liz Worden that bounced off the crossbar.

Defensively, UCF kept West Virginia from getting any shots on target for most of the night, with goalkeeper Genesis Perez-Watson making one recorded save. She also tipped a Mountaineer shot over the goal in the match’s waning seconds.

The draw helped UCF move up one spot to #25 in the RPI rankings, making it the sixth-highest-ranked Big 12 team. Meanwhile, West Virginia dropped two spots to #14.

The Knights take on a pair of matches in the Grand Canyon State, taking on Arizona (#97 RPI) at 10 p.m. ET on Thursday and Arizona State (#38 RPI) on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

Men’s Soccer Remains Winless vs. Top 25 Teams

The UCF Men’s Soccer team kicked off its conference slate on Friday night with a loss on the road to #22 Kentucky.

After a scoreless first half, the second 45 minutes dialed the intensity up to 11, featuring nine of the match’s 11 yellow cards and all five of the match’s goals. Kentucky attempted 11 of its 14 shots in the second half, while the Knights (2-4-1, 0-1 Sun Belt), despite being limited to just three shots in the second half, found the back of the net twice.

The Wildcats struck first in the 55th minute, but the Knights were quick to respond in the 59th as forward Lilian Ricol snuck the ball past the goalkeeper for his third goal of the season, with an assist from fellow forward Clarence Awoudor.

Ricol’s goal only equalized the match for a few minutes, as the Wildcats took the lead once more in the 61st minute, and added an insurance goal in the 76th that secured them the win. Though forward Claudel N’goubou did find the back of the net in the 85th minute, with an assist from forward Malick Thiaw, to make it a one-goal difference.

The loss puts the Knights at 0-3-1 against Top 25-ranked teams so far this season. They’ll have to face another on Sunday at 7 p.m. as they return home to host #13 West Virginia.

Volleyball Drops Big 12 Opener at No. 21 Baylor, Bounces Back at Crimson Classic

UCF Volleyball’s first taste of Big 12 action came on the road Tuesday night against No. 21 Baylor. The Knights battled throughout, nearly forcing a fourth set, but the Bears held on to complete the sweep (25-16, 25-17, 25-23).

The Knights hit the road and wrapped up their non-conference slate at the Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, facing Memphis on Friday and Alabama on Saturday.

UCF lit up the court in a 3-1 win (25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 25-15) over Memphis, showcasing a season-high 14 blocks—the most since 2022—and a jaw-dropping 13 aces. Fifth-year outside hitter Skylar English was unstoppable, firing off a career-high nine aces and passing the 200 mark for her career.

The Knights carried that energy straight into Saturday night, taking down Alabama in four sets (25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 25-16). Junior outside hitter Avah Armour led the charge with 17 kills, and five different Knights chipped in five or more to power a balanced attack. Another double-digit blocking effort put the exclamation point on a statement non-conference win.

With the pair of wins, the Knights improve to 9-3 overall (0-1 Big 12) and return home to host Cincinnati on Wednesday at 6 p.m. inside The Venue.

Men’s Golf Tees Off in Cincy

The UCF Men’s Golf team’s fall slate continued last weekend at the Bearcat Invitational.

The Knights finished 15th in the 17-team field at 20-over par. While they were a stroke ahead of fellow Big 12 squad Iowa State, they came in behind the likes of TCU (14-over), South Florida (9-over), Kansas (6-over) and the host, Cincinnati, who took home the title at 18-under par.

Prague University transfer Jakub Hejlek led the way for UCF individually, finishing in a tie for 33rd at 2-over par.

For the full results of the Bearcat Invitational, click here.

The Knights are back at it again on Sep. 29-30 as they play the Ironwood Collegiate Classic, where they finished in the Top 5 a year ago, in Greenville, North Carolina.

Women’s Golf Makes Top 5 in Oklahoma

The UCF Women’s Golf team added another Top 5 finish to its fall slate this weekend, this time in the Schooner Invitational in Norman, Oklahoma.

The Knights finished in fifth-place in the 16-team field at 835 (5-under), tying for the second-lowest 54-hole team score in program history, according to its record book. They finished behind three fellow Big 12 squads in Iowa State (6-under), TCU (11-under) and champion Oklahoma State (18-under), plus host Oklahoma (8-under).

Individually, senior Pimpisa “Sandwich” Sisutham and junior Molly Smith led the way, both finishing in the Top 15 in ties for 11th (3-under) and 13th (2-under), respectively.

Additionally, while she ended up finishing 52nd overall at 6-over par, South Carolina transfer Tiffany Tsai capped off her tournament with a bang in the form of a final-round 65, tied for the sixth-lowest single round by an individual in program history, according to its record book.

Click here for the full results from the Schooner Invitational.

The Knights next tee off on Oct. 6-7 for the Illini Invitational in Chicago.

Men’s Tennis Gets Fall Underway

The UCF Men’s Tennis team began its fall season this weekend in Columbia, South Carolina, with the Carolina Classic.

Two new additions to the squad, Clemson transfer Wissam Abderrahman and Oregon transfer Clement Lemire, both made it to the semifinals of Flight 1 before meeting their defeats. Meanwhile, in Flight #2, sophomore Nicolas Oliveira began his second season as a Knight, going 2-2 for the weekend.

Meanwhile, in doubles play, Abderrahaman teamed up with Oliveira, and while the duo lost their first match, they bounced back to win their next two to go 2-1 for the weekend in Flight A. Meanwhile, in Flight B, Lemire and senior Luca Hotze went 0-2.

The Knights are back in action from Sep. 26-28 in the Bedford Cup in Tallahassee.

Knight of the Week

Skylar English, Volleyball

The FGCU transfer led the way for the Knights with 10 kills against Baylor, but it was her performance against Memphis that gave her this spot.

For the second time this season, English set a career high in service aces, getting nine against the Tigers to go with her nine kills.

Those nine aces tie the program’s single-match record, which Lorin Lukas set back on Sept. 16, 2006, against Troy.

In the history of UCF Volleyball, a player recording eight aces or more in a single match had only ever happened three times: Lukas in 2006 and twice by two different players in 2007. English has now done it twice in two weeks.