Friday, December 2
Houston 3, South Dakota 2 - Box Score
UCF 3, Yale 0 - Box Score

Houston 3, South Dakota 2 - Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. – The #23 University of Houston volleyball team earned its first NCAA Tournament win since 1994 in a five-set thriller against South Dakota in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at D.J. Sokol Arena on Friday afternoon behind multiple stellar performances.
 
The Cougars (29-3, 19-1 The American) continued their success in five-set matches, improving to 6-1 in contests that reach five frames. The match was the longest for Houston so far this season at two hours and 32 minutes. Houston also improved to 20-0 this season when holding a 2-0 lead. 
 
Houston now advances to the NCAA Tournament's Second Round and will play Auburn (22-8, 10-8 SEC) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+. 
 
Graduate Kennedy Warren tallied a career-high 21 kills, earning her first double-double of the season by adding 11 digs. It marked the second time this season that Warren has led the match in kills. The Weatherford, Texas, native also added a team-leading four blocks in the match. 
 
Sophomore Kellen Morin posted eight kills on nine attempts for a .889 hitting percentage, while senior Rachel Tullos tallied five kills with no errors for a .455 hitting percentage. Junior Kate Georgiades recorded a match-best 29 digs and senior Morgan Janda added a team-leading 27 assists. 
 
Senior Abbie Jackson broke the American Athletic Conference's all-time service aces record in the match, tallying four aces to bring her to 156 in her career and surpassing Tulane's Kaylie McHugh's 153 from 2016-19. She also recorded her 11th double-double of the season and 32nd of her career with 14 digs and 11 assists. 
 
Graduate Kortlyn Henderson posted a .480 hitting percentage behind a 14-2-25 line. In the process, she tallied her 1,500thcollegiate kill and her 200th collegiate block. 

UCF 3, Yale 0 - Box Score
STATE COLLEGE, Pa.—The UCF volleyball team (28-1) cruised past Yale (23-3) on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State.

UCF tallied its first sweep in NCAA Tournament play advances to the second round for the fifth time in program history (2021, 2019, 2003, 1997) and extends the Knights' 16-game winning streak. The Knights will play Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of Penn State and UMBC.

The Knights and Bulldogs exchanged points back and forth to start off the match. UCF broke away at 3-3 with a service error from Yale followed by a block from Amber Olson and Abby Hansen. UCF ended the set 25-22 with an outstanding .458 attacking percentage.

In the second set, UCF came out with a 3-0 run ignited with a kill by Kari Zumach followed by back-to-back blocks. The Knights polished off set two just like they started with a 3-0 run with a kill from McKenna Melville followed by Zumach then Melville to end it, 25-16.
 
The Knights came out on fire with a 5-0 lead sparked by back-to-back blocks from Claudia Dillon and Zumach. UCF cruised through the remainder of the match to take the win, 25-17.
 
Melville finished the night off with 15 digs, 14 kills and adding in four blocks. Heidi Bonde tallied nine kills.

Hansen led the Knights on defense with eight blocks adding in five kills. Chloe Scheer tallied up 10 digs on the night.