UCF Volleyball and first-year head coach Matt Botsford charged to a 3-0 start to the season after a swift sweep of UC Riverside Sunday afternoon, slamming the door on its home-opening tournament.
The Knights rolled out the welcome mats for Chattanooga, Norfolk State and UC Riverside in a three-match showcase at The Venue. The weekend marked the start of a new era for UCF Volleyball, following the departure of head coach Jenny Maurer last December.
Botsford, the former FGCU head coach, said after Friday
night’s match against Chattanooga that he was excited to get his first game out of the way wearing black and gold.
“The crowd, the people I’ve met, the support administratively — it’s really something special, and we [staff] don’t take it for granted,” Botsford said. “To get to experience it firsthand for the first time was something we will remember for a long, long time.”
Here’s a recap of the Knights’ performance during opening weekend.
Friday
UCF kicked off the season in style, capturing their first set of the year against the Chattanooga Mocs. The Knights powered to a 3–1 victory (25-18, 25-15, 19-25, 25-11) on opening night, energizing the home crowd and setting the tone for the rest of the weekend.
“The first one [game] is out of the way and in the books, even nicer that it was a win,” Botsford said after the match. “There were some things to take away, some things I was really pleased with and we’re going to have to continue to improve in certain areas.”
UCF’s offense was sharp from the start, racking up 54 kills on .296 hitting. Senior outside hitter Reaghan Thompson led with 15 kills, while redshirt junior setter Abby Schomers tallied 42 assists.
“There was a lot of bright spots but Reagan Thompson was outstanding,” Botsford said. “For somebody that played three different positions tonight, quite impressive what she was doing out there. We’ve learned pretty quickly she has that kind of versatility, so we’re going to use it as often as we can.”
After the Knights dominated the first two sets, Chattanooga answered in the third with an early push and a decisive mid-set run.
A Caiti Barthel ace and kills from Gracie Rose and Jordin Glass built momentum for the Mocs, and a six-point burst after a UCF timeout put Chattanooga in control, earning them their lone set of the match.
Thompson said after the match that breaking up an opponent’s momentum will be crucial going forward, and the team must find a way to bounce back from consecutive points.
“Getting into those runs killed us in the third set — that one serving run,” Thompson said. “If we do get in a hole, we have to move on as fast as we can.”
The Knights were able to regroup and dominate the fourth set behind Thompson, and junior outside hitter Avah Armour sealed the win with the match-clinching kill.
Saturday
The Knights slept on their win and carried the momentum into their second match of the weekend, sweeping the Norfolk State Spartans (25-15, 25-19, 25-17) to improve to 2–0 on the young season.
In the first set, UCF jumped out to an early lead — building a 5-of-the first-10-point advantage — behind strong play from Armour and fifth-year outside hitter Skylar English. Six different Knights recorded kills as the Spartans struggled to find momentum.
The second set remained competitive early, but English and Armour paired up again late to pull away. UCF closed it down to push ahead in the match. By the third set, the Spartans hung tough early — even opening with a 7-5 lead — but the Knights answered with a 9-3 run that swung the contest in their favor.
English and Armour each chalked up six kills in the frame, with freshman defensive specialist Reese Moore adding key pressure from the service line. Sophomore outside hitter Fallon Stewart delivered the match-clinching kill to seal the sweep.
Schomers racked up 31 assists on the day, putting her just 17 points shy of the ninth all-time record in UCF’s program history.
“I’m honored. I don’t take that lightly,” Schomers said after the match. “Every day I’m working just to get better and help this program succeeed to where we all want it to go in this new era. I’m going to keep working to climb that ladder.”
Sunday
Buoyed by their early victories, UCF headed into Sunday’s finale with confidence and capped their home-opening weekend by sweeping UC Riverside in straight sets, finishing the tournament with a perfect 3-0.
The Knights maintained offensive pressure all afternoon; English delivered 12 kills and redshirt sophomoremiddle blocker Sasha Cohen added 11, while Schomers racked up 27 assists to push her weekend total to an even 100. UCF’s offense posted a .309 hitting percentage on 45 kills and limited UCR to just a .092.
Cohen said after the match that the reason she was able to rack up so many kills was the strong support system she has around her on the court.
“They [teammates] put me in a great position to get kills and I feel very confident, especially knowing my back row is behind me, that even if I get blocked, I can still swing away,” Cohen said. “When we get on the court it’s straight business.”
UCF controlled each set from the outset, winning them 25–17, 25–17 and 25–19. In the first two sets, English and Cohen paced the attack, while Stewart sparked a key 7–0 run in the second.
Armour and Cohen pushed the Knights across the finish line in the third set with commanding efficiency. With this sweep, UCF secured its fourth consecutive season-opening weekend without a loss.
Standout Players
Two Knights lit up the Black and Gold Classic, earning top honors as the Most Valuable Player and All-Tournament Team, as announced Monday afternoon.
Schomers, the veteran on a fresh roster, snagged MVP after dishing out a cool 100 assists over the weekend, climbing ever higher in the UCF record books.
Her 42-assist explosion on opening night marked the 19th time she’s hit 40 plus assists in a match, pushing her to eighth all-time in career assists. With 2,126 career assists now under her belt, Schomers looks ready to keep breaking records while leading the Knights’ high-octane offense.
UCF’s All-Tournament Team representative was Thompson, making her debut in black and gold this weekend — and she didn’t disappoint.
Thompson racked up 26 kills, including a team-high 15 on opening night, and added 10 blocks over the weekend, pacing the Knights in both categories.
Schomer, Thompson and the Knights pack their bags and hit the road for the first time this season, heading south to Miami for the 305 Challenge. UCF opens with Stetson on Friday before clashing with Miami on Saturday and wrapping up against FIU on Sunday.
