The UCF Knights Volleyball team earned its first NCAA Tournament victory in 16 years with a five-set victory over the Florida State Seminoles in the first round at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville.

UCF won the first before dropping sets two and three, but came back with a vengeance to force a fifth and deciding set, and eventually clinched it 15-8 in the final frame:

McKenna Melville led the way for UCF with 20 kills and 27 digs. Her 90 swings was critical in keeping Florida State’s front line, who are second in the nation in blocks per set, at bay, allowing right sides Kristina Fisher (19 kills), Anne-Marie Watson (12) and Alli Sabol (11) to punish FSU’s back line.

Defensively, Makenzie Kuchmaner added another 27 digs of her own and was all over the place doing things like this:

Neither team hit particularly well (UCF was .168 to FSU’s .132), which was to be expected in a defensive struggle like this one, filled with long rallies. But UCF’s .288 clip over the final two sets proved to be the difference.

History

It was a night full of milestones:

The win was also UCF’s first-ever win over an in-state opponent in the NCAA Tournament.

One more thing:

Next up

The Knights move on to the second round to play the #10 national seed and host Florida Gators, who destroyed Alabama State (as expected) in the opening round.

The Knights have never beaten Florida in the NCAA era, including having their season ended in Gainesville in the NCAA Tournament in 2002 and 2003.

First serve is set for 7 p.m. ET on Friday, December 6th, and it will be televised on WatchESPN.