UCF Press Release

November 22, 2002

ORLANDO - The 2002 Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship returns to Orlando for the first time since 1996 this weekend at the UCF Arena. The Golden Knights are in search of their second consecutive conference crown and their 10th overall, the most of any A-Sun institution.
    Play begins Friday at 11 a.m. with No. 4 Jacksonville facing No. 5 Jacksonville State. The No. 3 seed Florida Atlantic Owls square off vs. No. 6 Troy State at 1 p.m. in Friday's other quarterfinal match.
    In the semifinals, the No. 1 seed UCF Golden Knights will face the winner of the Jacksonville/Jacksonville State match in one semifinal while No. 2 Georgia State will play the winner of the Florida Atlantic/Troy State match at 7 p.m.
    Saturday's championship match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. and Sunshine Network will televise the contest beginning at 10:30 p.m. Saturday evening.

UCF's Title Run In The A-Sun
    The Golden Knights have been the leaders of the pack in the A-Sun, winning a conference-best nine A-Sun Championships. Since 1992, UCF has been almost unbeatable, totaling a remarkable 22-3 record in tournament action including seven titles, with six straight coming from 1992-97.
    Under head coach Meg Colado, UCF is 4-2 in tournament play, including last season's conference title. The Golden Knights also won the conference championship from 1992-97, and 1986-87. UCF was not part of the conference for volleyball from 1988-91.

Leyre Is No. 1 In The A-Sun
    Leyre Santaella Sante was named the A-Sun Player-of-the-Year Wednesday by the league's coaches. The Puerto Rico native is the fifth player in school history to earn the award, joining former UCF standouts Emily Bridson (1993), Emily Queissner (1995), Renata Menchikova (1996) and  Tyra Harper (1997).
    Santaella Sante had an outstanding season in leading UCF to a share of the regular season conference title. She led UCF and ranked second in the conference in kills (540) and service aces (50) while also earning three A-Sun Player-of-the-Week honors during the season.
    A 2001 First Team All-Sun selection, Santaella Sante also became just the seventh UCF player to be named to the A-Sun First Team more than once during their career. In addition, Santaella Sante was the 2001 A-Sun Championship MVP and a 2000 A-Sun All-Freshman pick and A-Sun Second Team selection.

Frank Garners First Team Honors
    Junior setter Jenny Frank joined Leyre Santaella Sante on the Atlantic Sun First Team Wednesday, as announced by the league office. The honor for Frank followed a brilliant regular season in which she could have also garnered the conference player-of-the-year honor. Frank led the A-Sun in assists (1,463) while also ranking fourth in the conference in hitting percentage (.333).
    The Colorado Springs, Colo. native was a Second Team All-A-Sun selection last season and a member of the A-Sun All-Tournament team.

Two Freshman Earn A-Sun Accolades
    Chaz Arah and Emily Watts continued UCF's run of post-season awards as the two were named to the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman team Wednesday. Arah has been strong all season long in the middle for the Golden Knights, ranking second on the team in total blocks (81).
    Watts has been one of the team's most versatile players, filling roles at setter, outside hitter and right side this season. The Wichita, Kansas native ranks second on the team in assists (102) and also led UCF in kills over the team's final two matches of the regular season.

Leyre Leads The Way
    Leyre Santaella Sante has been sensational all season long for the Golden Knights from her outside hitter position. Despite missing the last match of the season at Stetson and most of the Jacksonville match with an ankle injury, Santaella Sante is expected to be near 100 % for the A-Sun Championship.
    Santaella Sante has recorded at least 10 kills in all but two matches this season. She has also reached the 20-kill plateau 14 times and she has eclipsed the 30-kill barrier once. Santaella Sante tied a career-high with 35 kills in a five-game loss to Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 7 at the UCF Arena. Santaella Sante is also among the team leaders in double-doubles with 18 this season.
    Santaella Sante has also moved up in the career rankings at UCF this season. With her 540 kills this season, Santaella Sante has 1,427 for her career, fourth in UCF history. She is also just one of four players in UCF history to eclipse the 1,000-kill mark.
    The 540 kills in 2002 also rank Santaella Sante in a tie for eighth place on the single-season kill list at UCF.

We Are Not In Kansas Anymore
    Freshman Emily Watts has made quite an impact in her first season with the Golden Knights. The Kansas native has given UCF a threat on the outside as well as a capable backup at the setter position to Jenny Frank.
    For the season, Watts ranks among the team leaders in kills (233/4th), assists (102/2nd), digs (220/5th) and attack percentage (.260/3rd).
    The A-Sun All-Freshman selection has also played her best volleyball of the season down the stretch for the Golden Knights. Over  her last 11 matches, Watts has totaled double-figures in kills seven times including leading the team in kills in three of those matches.
    After filling in for an injured Leyre Santaella Sante in UCF's last two matches, Watts has become the team's featured hitter. She led UCF with 17 kills in the Jacksonville match and also led UCF with 21 kills at Stetson. Watts also recorded her first career triple-double in the JU match, totaling 11 assists and a career-high 21 digs vs. the Dolphins.

In Awe Of Amanda
    Sophomore middle blocker Amanda Stoutjesdyk has come on strong for UCF as the season has rolled along. After spending most of her freshman campaign playing behind three-time Atlantic Sun First-Team performer Piper Morgan and Shelly Driggers, Stoutjesdyk has come into her own in 2002. The Michigan native ranks third on the team with 243 kills and first in total blocks with 113.
    Stoutjesdyk also ranks second in the conference with an average of 1.10 blocks per game. The middle blocker is also second on the team with an impressive .295 hitting percentage, which also ranks sixth in the A-Sun.

Frankly, Jenny Has Been Fantastic
    Jenny Frank has been brilliant for UCF during the 2002 campaign. The junior setter has four triple-doubles on the year and leads the Golden Knights in assists (1,463) and hitting percentage (.333). The 1,463 assists also rank Frank first in the Atlantic Sun.
    With her 1,463 assists this season, Frank has moved into fifth place on the single-season assist chart at UCF. Frank needs just eight more assists to move into fourth place on the single-season chart at UCF. She is also  currently ninth in single-season history with her .333 hitting percentage.
    Earlier in the year, Frank passed the 2,000-assist plateau to move into second place on the career assist chart at UCF. She is also just one of two players in UCF history to reach 2,000 assists. Frank has recorded 3,218 assists in her three-plus years in Orlando, trailing only Emily Queissner (5,923), who played at UCF from 1992-95.

UCF Vs. The Field In The A-Sun Championship
    The Golden Knights have enjoyed plenty of success vs. this weekend's field in the A-Sun Championship. All-time, UCF is 91-25 (.785) vs. the field, including a 5-1 mark in 2002. The only blemish on UCF's schedule was a five-game loss to Jacksonville Nov. 8 in Orlando.
    UCF's semifinal opponent, either Jacksonville or Jacksonville State, have not played well vs. the Golden Knights. UCF is a  perfect 6-0 all-time vs. the Gamecocks while the Dolphins are only 11-36 in 47 meetings with UCF.
    In A-Sun Championship play, UCF is 9-3 vs. the five opponents since 1992.

Top Seed Equals Title For The Golden Knights
    Since 1992, UCF has entered the A-Sun Championship as the top seed seven times. As the No. 1 seed, the Golden Knights have won six championships (1992-97). The only time UCF has been the top seed in the tournament and they haven't won the title was in 1999, when Florida Atlantic defeated the Golden Knights in the title match.


Leyre Looking To Join Some Elite Company
    Leyre Santaella Sante is looking to become just the fourth player in conference history to win the A-Sun Player-of-the-Year award and the A-Sun Championship MVP in the same season. The last player to accomplish the honor was Georgia State's Anna Popenko as she won both awards in 2000.
    The other two players to earn both honors were both Golden Knights. Tyra Harper accomplished the honor in 1997 while Emily Bridson won both awards in 1993.
    Santaella Sante is also looking to become just the second player ever in the A-Sun to win tournament MVP honors twice. The Puerto Rico native was the A-Sun's 2001 Tournament MVP as she guided the Golden Knights to the conference crown in Boca Raton. The lone player to win the award more than once was Harper, who won the award in 1996 and 1997 for the Golden Knights.

UCF On The All-Tournament Team
    UCF has had 24 selections to the Atlantic Sun All-Tournament Team, the most of any conference institution. Three current Golden Knights have been named to the team already during their careers. Leyre Santaella Sante was the 2001 tournament MVP while Jenny Frank was named to the all-tournament team in 2001 and Lindsey Whalen garnered a spot on the all-tournament team in 2000.

The MVP Belongs To UCF
    Since the A-Sun began to name a tournament MVP in 1993, UCF has owned the award, winning the honor six times. The only other school to have more than one tournament MVP was Florida Atlantic, as the Owls had two players named MVP in 1998 and 1999.
    Leyre Santaella Sante was the 2001 MVP for UCF and joined a long list of former UCF greats that garnered the award. From 1993 until 1997, UCF had a strangle hold on the award, winning it five straight times.
    Tyra Harper is the only two-time winner, earning the award in 1996 and 1997. Renata Menchikova was the tournament MVP in 1995 for the Golden Knights while Emily Queisser was the top player in the tournament in 1994 and Emily Bridson was the best in 1993.

Fast Start Leads To Good Results
    The Golden Knights are 12-2 this season when they win the first game of a match. In A-Sun play, UCF is 8-1 when it wins the first game of a match.
    The only match UCF lost in the conference when it won the first game was vs. Jacksonville on Nov. 8. The Dolphins defeated UCF 30-25, 24-30, 30-32, 30-25, 10-15.

Down The Stretch They Come
    The Golden Knights have been playing their best volleyball of the season over the months of October and November. After starting the year with a 1-3 mark in August and a 6-6 slate in September, UCF has gone 12-2 over the final two months of the season.
    UCF finished the month of October 9-1, with the only loss coming at home to South Florida in five games. In the current month of November, UCF is 3-1.
 

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