The match featured high drama as the teams exchanged the lead 13 times to go along with 29 ties. The Bearcats (2-27, 2-13) showed off tremendous heart as they battled back from a 2-1 deficit to force a deciding fifth game with a four-point win in set four. The deciding stanza proved to be the most dramatic of all as the teams were deadlocked at one, two, three, four, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 before UCF put the match away with back-to-back points.

“We have to give Cincinnati a ton of credit,” Dagenais said. “We played hard and we didn’t always execute well, but we were really fortunate to win this match. I told everyone from the beginning if they thought this match was going to be a cakewalk they were nuts. Cincinnati is a team that’s been in a lot of close matches all year long and was coming off a big win at USF two nights ago. They are getting better and better. Coach (Molly) Alvey and her staff go in day in and day out and improve their program. They are really going in the right direction.”

Freshman outside hitter Taylor Gallart shined with 15 kills and eight digs while hitting .312. The Germantown, Md., native did not start the match, but once again provided a huge spark offensively for the Knights in relief. Senior Angelica Crump led the way with 19 kills on 50 swings, including four big hits in the final set. Junior DeLaina Sarden was solid in the middle, smacking 12 kills, hitting .312 and coming up with three block assists.

“I’m proud to be a UCF Knight,” Dagenais said when asked about win 100. “I’m proud of the players that we have and the coaching staff that we have and the fact that we’ve won 100 matches in the six years we’ve been here. We’ve turned the program and the culture around and that’s something we’re all really proud of. You look back on 100 wins and there’s just so much that goes into that. I’ve been really fortunate to be surrounded by great people, both in the gym and at home.”

Defensively is where the Black and Gold truly shined as they held Cincinnati to just a .117 attack percentage while racking up 68 digs and denying 13 shots at the net. Juniors Kaye-Alese Green and Loren Cory proved to be a formidable tandem block as they each set new-career highs with nine block assists apiece. Junior libero bounced back from her first single-digit dig effort in two months on Friday with a team-high 28 digs (5.60 per set). Freshman Shelby Foyer also got into the act from her middle back spot with 11 digs, her double-digit dig performance of her rookie season.

The Knights return to action next week for their last two home matches of the season against SMU and Houston. Friday night’s contest v. the Mustangs will be “Family Night” as family members of all players will be honored. That evening will also see the 2003 UCF Volleyball team celebrate its 10-year anniversary of reaching the NCAA tournament. Sunday’s home finale against the Cougars is “Senior Day” and will honor UCF’s two outgoing seniors, Crump and Roxy Mendez.

Nearly 800 students participated in this year’s dance marathon, which asks participants to stand for 18 hours to “dance for the kids who can’t” and to raise funds for the Children’s Miracle Network. Hundreds of students from more than 60 organizations raise funds for the event year-round, and the effort culminated Saturday with the dance marathon, which was held at the Venue and raised $258,554.17.

“We have worked so diligently to make Knight-Thon have a real presence on campus, and I think that this year, we finally made it,” said Valerie Greco, Knight-Thon’s fundraising chair.  “Our goal of $170,000 seemed like a stretch and at times, there were set-backs and people said that we couldn’t do it.”

Knight-Thon raised $118,000 for Children’s Miracle Network last year. This year, the philanthropy beat its goal thanks in part to a few large donations, including a $25,000 gift from former Orlando Magic guard J.J. Redick, who selected Knight-Thon as a winner of a social media contest to find a local charity to donate to.

“On Sunday morning, I think many of the members of the executive board expected that we would exceed our goal, but no one was prepared for the reveal of over a quarter of a million dollars,” Greco said. “UCF raised $258,554.17, and I cannot think of a better cause than the Greater Orlando Children’s Miracle Network! I am truly blessed to have been part of such an incredible event.”

To learn more about Knight-Thon or to donate, visit .

The students are involved with Knight-Thon, a Dance Marathon that asks participants to stand for 18 hours to “dance for the kids who can’t” and to raise funds for the Children’s Miracle Network. No strangers to a challenge, those involved with the university’s largest student-run philanthropy rallied together to gain the support of the UCF community — and the attention of Redick.

“We reached out to UCF students, faculty and staff members, asking for their help,” said Michael Davis, Knight-Thon executive student director. “We also received help from Dance Marathon programs across the nation and community supporters of the Greater Orlando Children’s Miracle Network. After that, the only thing we could do was tweet to J.J. Redick about why Knight-Thon was the most deserving group for the donation.”

For the next week, Knight-Thon supporters sent tweets and videos to Redick, sharing their own stories about Knight-Thon and the Children’s Miracle Network. Katie Waser, Knight-Thon’s Family and Children’s Miracle Network Relations director, made several submissions of her own.

“After tweeting countless miracle stories and Knight-Thon facts to J.J. and receiving responses, I finally decided to make a video to really share with him what Knight-Thon means to me,” said Waser, a junior who hopes to become a child life specialist and work in a hospital after graduation.

“I talked about our wonderful miracle children and how Knight-Thon has truly changed my life. College is usually a selfish time where we think about our degrees, our money and just getting by,” Waser said. “When Knight-Thon is a part of the picture, college is a very selfless time.”

On Christmas Day, Redick announced on Twitter that the winning charity was Loaves and Fishes of Apopka. Minutes later, he added that he and his wife, Chelsea, would also donate $25,000 to Knight-Thon and congratulated Waser for submitting the winning video.

“It was quite a whirlwind of emotions,” said Waser. “I was completely shocked. I cried tears of happiness and could not stop shaking because I just could not believe it.”

Last year, Knight-Thon raised $118,000 for Children’s Miracle Network. This year, the organization’s goal is to raise $170,000 by April 13.

“We need the help of everyone in order to reach our goal,” said Davis. “Knight-Thon couldn’t raise funds without the generous support of students, faculty, staff and community partners. We’d like to thank everyone for their continued support.”

Knight-Thon will begin Saturday, April 13 at 11:30 a.m. at The Venue at the UCF Arena. The dance marathon will run until 6 a.m. the next day. To learn more about Knight-Thon or to donate, visit .

Kansas will perform at The Venue with the UCF Symphony Orchestra as part of its Collegiate Symphony Tour. This is the second year the band will visit campuses throughout the nation, but the first time Kansas will perform at UCF.

The tour began last year after the band recognized the need for more funding of music programs at universities. A portion of the proceeds from the tour will benefit music programs at colleges and universities around the country.

Members of Kansas include original member and drummer Phil Ehart, singer and keyboardist Steve Walsh, guitarist Rich Williams, bassist Billy Greer and violinist David Ragsdale.

For more information or to buy a ticket to the performance, visit http://www.ucfarena.com.

To learn more about the UCF Symphony Orchestra, go to .

With October serving as breast cancer awareness month, the Friday night tilt against UAB will serve as the annual Dig for the Cure match with proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen for the CureÂź Foundation. Fans are encouraged to add some pink to their black and gold attire when they head out to The Venue.

“If we can do a little something in sport to raise awareness about breast cancer, I think that is important,” head coach Todd Dagenais said. “Hopefully we have a big PINK weekend here at UCF between volleyball, soccer and football. Hopefully people come out and support that cause that has affected so many of us.”

Saturday’s second tussle of the weekend with UAB will be free to all those who attend as a part of UKNIGHT in PINK weekend.

In a log jam at 3-2 in Conference USA play, the Knights (11-5) are tied with four other league schools for third place. The two matches with UAB this weekend are pivotal for UCF’s chances at moving up in the conference as the Blazers own C-USA’s best record at 5-0.

“You have the team that is number one in the league back at your place and I think it gives us a great opportunity to try and create a little separation from the pack,” Dagenais said. “If you are going to do it, it has to be against a top team. This is as tough of a UAB team we’ve seen since they won the conference championship a couple of years ago.”

Since the start of league play against UTEP, freshman middle blocker DeLaina Sarden (Lawrenceville, Ga.) has been key to the Knights’ success. Owning 12 kills before the start of C-USA matches, Sarden has broken out for 37 daggers in five matches, including double-digits in three-straight tilts.

“I think the connection between her and Rachel (Vukson) has really been solidified to a point where Rachel feels comfortable with her even on not perfect passes,” Dagenais said about the rookie. “We are still adding things to her game to give her more swings at the ball.”

The Blazers bring in a balanced attack with seven members of the team in double figures since C-USA play started. Running a 6-2 offense, both setters Alison Woods (110) and Becca Howard (78) have paced the team in assists.

Last year when the two squads met in Orlando, UCF got the better of the Blazers in a thrilling five-setter that saw three Knights record double-digit kills and Vukson dish out 57 assists.

Gold Zone parking is in effect for the football game, and fans attending the soccer match can park in the free Red and Blue Zones on campus.

During that decade UCF had a lot going on in its football program. It had a coaching change. UCF switched conferences and then played for, and also won a conference championship. The decade also saw the school’s first bowl appearance and then its first bowl win. In addition, the school continued to see its enrollment skyrocket and become one of the country’s largest universities. And in 2007, the once-dreamed about on-campus stadium became a reality and attendance for UCF football had plenty of reasons to increase.

In that inaugural season of Bright House Networks Stadium, UCF averaged 44,018 fans per game. Texas, nationally ranked, opened the new football home and a guy named Kevin Smith ran for over 2,000 yards that season which saw a conference title game cap off the home schedule.

Over the next three seasons, UCF saw a slight drop in attendance for home game. They were not the only ones in college football. As the economy struggled across the country, college football attendance took a hit. Not at Florida, LSU, Alabama or most of the other traditional powers, but at places where they have not been playing the game for almost a century. But UCF’s decrease was similar, and in most cases smaller, than others. In 2007, Florida State averaged 80,597 per game. Last season the Seminoles attendance per home contest was 71,270. Not a bad number, but almost 10,000 less per game. Maryland is down 12,000 per game from 2007 to 2010. That school 70 miles west of UCF averaged 53,170 in 2007. This past season that same school was down over 12,000 per game from three years earlier.

In 2007 the average attendance at a Football Bowl Subdivision game (what you know as I-A) totaled 46,962. In 2010 the average crowd for a game was 46,632, down 330 fans from 2007. The number is a bit misleading. While the drop seems minimal, keep in mind that several top attended programs added seats. Alabama introduced 10,000 more seats at Bryant-Denny Stadium and Texas added over 17,000 seats to its home.

Critics of UCF like to jump on the attendance when it comes to “announced attendance” against “actual attendance.” Some argue that UCF may announce a crowd far less than the actual number inside the stadium. So does everyone else in college football. And like everyone else in 2001, UCF was just like other schools when the announced attendance per game was 19,793.

Announced attendance is based on tickets out and actual attendance would be those that actually came inside the stadium. I’m going to guess you likely knew that but just wanted to clear up any confusion.

One local newspaper seems to thrive on “announced attendance” and enjoys criticizing the slight drop in UCF’s per game turnout. I get it. It’s a little pet peeve they have. I do have a question for that paper though. Is “announced circulation” different from “actual circulation?” Are all those papers left in front of hotel room doors that never get read, is that like a ticket to football game never used? And while UCF does have some giveaways in regards to tickets for home games, I don’t think I can order a season ticket at 80 percent off its normal price, but I can get that newspaper delivered to my home for the entire week 80 percent off the normal price. But UCF is the one supposedly struggling?

Even if you think UCF’s “actual” turnout for a home football game is a few thousand below the “announced” number, it’s still significantly higher than the real crowd turnout in 2001. In fact, it’s still about double the number. Those fans have come from somewhere. That somewhere is from a pool that includes students, alums and area sports fans.

It’s not an excuse, but a fact. UCF is still younger than most programs who have played football at the highest level, but has come a long way in that short time. Do you know how many programs who average over 30,000 fans per game in 2010 doubled their attendance in the last decade? One, your UCF Knights.

Everyone wants every seat filled at Bright House Networks Stadium and winning helps that and the football team has done its part the last two seasons and should do the same in 2011. But what UCF has and has had in regards to attendance is nothing to be ashamed about. In fact, it’s everything to be proud about.

Knights notes and more: In case you are wondering about basketball attendance over the last decade. This past season UCF averaged 6,370 per game. The last season in the old UCF Arena, now known as The Venue, 2,706 was the average crowd. The first year in the new building saw an average crowd of 4,891. What was the average attendance for basketball in 2001 when the sports decade began? 908…Florida finished as runner-up at the College World Series as South Carolina captured a second straight national title. Of the eight teams in Omaha for the College World Series, seven hosted super regionals and seven also served as host of regionals (Texas A&M won a super regional at FSU but did host a regional. Cal won a super regional at home and won a regional on the road). This is the huge advantage Terry Rooney and college baseball fans know well. If you have to go on the road in the postseason it is very difficult to win.

Source: Marc Daniels’ runs several times per month on UCFAthletics.com. Listen to Marc during UCF football, men’s basketball and baseball radio broadcasts on the UCF Sports Network. Each weekday, Marc hosts The Beat of Sports on ESPN Radio 1080 in Orlando.

Knight-Thon, UCF’s largest student-run philanthropy, raises funds and awareness for the Children’s Miracle Network. The event challenges students to stay on their feet while keeping in mind sick children who aren’t able to stand.

Registration for Knight-Thon begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at The Venue. Students will stand from noon on Saturday to 3 a.m. on Sunday.

“Knight-Thon is UCF’s way of standing in support of the brave children being treated at our local hospitals,” said Christina Vicari, executive student director of Knight-Thon.

Many hospitalized children endure a significant amount of pain. As UCF students stay on their feet, they’ll gain a greater understanding of the struggles the kids go through.

“Nothing brings tears to everyone’s eyes and makes standing worthwhile like listening to the stories of the miracle children,” said Vicari.

In addition to listening to the stories of miracle children and their families, students will dance, play games and make crafts during the event. Local restaurants and businesses will provide food throughout the day.

The Children’s Miracle Network reaches out to millions of children and families each year, and its profits support medical care, research and education. Knight-Thon has raised more than $400,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network in the past 15 years.

The Rosen College of Hospitality Management is looking for UCF students who are full of talent to compete in its fourth-annual Talented Knights showcase next month.

The winners will be awarded a $5,000 scholarship donated by the Orlando Scholarship Organization Inc.

Audition registrations are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The registration fee is $10 per act, and auditions will be held Thursday, April 15, in The Venue, behind the UCF Arena. The top 10 performers will be asked to compete in the Talented Knights showcase the following night.

Interested actors, musicians, comedians and dancers should visit to learn more about registration and auditions.

Talented Knights will be at 7 p.m. Friday, April 16, at The Venue. Produced by Rosen College students and instructor Susan Lee, the competition showcases UCF students’ broad spectrum of talent while helping them gain valuable feedback from entertainment industry professionals and talent agents.

Previous judges have come from Walt Disney World Entertainment, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld.

This is the first year that talent show winners will receive a scholarship prize. Previous winners have gone on to professionally entertain crowds at local theme parks and events around campus.

The April 16 event is open to the public, and tickets are on sale for $2 through the UCF Arena.

This year’s sponsors include the UCF Arena, Orlando Scholarship Organization Inc., and STLEO Digital Media, Site Strategy and Special Events.

For more information about the event, visit www.talentedknights.com or call 407-903-8300.