The UCF Knights women's volleyball program represents the University of Central Florida in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The Knights compete in the Big 12 Conference and play their home games on UCF's main campus in Orlando, Florida at The Venue at UCF. The Knights are currently led by head coach Matt Botsford.

UCF Volleyball has earned one national title (the 1978 AIAW National Championship), going 55–0 in their championship season. The Knights have won twenty-two conference tournament and regular season championships, and have made eighteen post-season appearances in the NCAA, AIAW, and NIVC tournaments. Ten UCF Volleyball players have earned various All-American honors, including: Laura Smith, DeLaina Sarden, Angelica Crump, Jade Hayes, and McKenna Melville.

History The Lucy McDaniel Era The Florida Technological University (FTU) Knights volleyball program began in 1975 under Head Coach Lucy McDaniel, who would lead the team through the 1979 season. The Knights would play as an Independent until 1982. FTU would change its name to the University of Central Florida (UCF) in December, 1978. McDaniel, a graduate of Florida State University, would be a strong advocate for the use of Title IX laws for equal access for women to expand the opportunities for female athletes at the collegiate level, and also helped to push the NCAA to recognize Women's Volleyball as a collegiate sport. She would go on to become the first donor in the state of Florida to donate $1 million to women's collegiate athletics programs.

The Knights homecourt was the Education Gym, located in the Education Building on the then FTU (later UCF) Campus. This would remain their homecourt until 1991, when they began playing games at the original UCF arena. In 2007, a new UCF arena opened (later to be called CFE, then Additions Financial Arena). UCF Volleyball played their games for one year in that arena while renovations were made to the old arena to develop it into a volleyball specific facility. In 2008, the Knights returned to the old arena, now re-christened as "the Venue" (which remains UCF's home volleyball arena to the present day).

The Knights went 30–8–0 in their inaugural year, with much of their success due to a balance of equally strong offense and defense, and a strong bond between the players. McDaniel was described by her players as "tough, but fair", and they credited her leadership as the bond that held the team together through adversity. In 1977, the Knights made their first post-season tournament appearance, placing 4th in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championship Tournament. (the AIAW was the sponsoring body for women's collegiate athletics that were not yet recognized by the NCAA)

1978 National Championship season

The highlight of McDaniel's tenure at UCF was their 1978 perfect 55–0 season in which they won the Division II AIAW National Championship.

During the 55–0 run that season, UCF played opponents all along the U.S. east coast (including schools like Princeton), defeating most opponents by a large margin. As former UCF player Terri Owen described it, "she (Coach McDaniel) was taking us all along the east coast, and we were kicking everyboy's but." Out of 117 sets played in their 55–0 run that season, the Knights only lost 7 sets.

The Knights greatest loss that year was not on the volleyball court. One of their Assistant Coaches (and former player), Julie Gonzalez, was killed in a car accident during the course of the season. McDaniel was grooming Gonzalez to be her successor as head coach, and the loss of Gonzalez forced McDaniel to adjust her plans for the future.

During the course of the season, the university transitioned from FTU to UCF, but the players were reluctant to embrace the change. "We didn't like it at all," said UCF player Aggie McHugh. Despite their misgivings, the players finally came around to the change, which would go into effect around the time they started post-season play. When they started the 1978 AIAW championship tournament, they decided they would begin the tournament as FTU, then make the change to UCF at the end of the tournament.

They defeated the UC Riverside Highlanders in the semi-final, and advanced to the tournament final. As the highest seeded team in the tournament, UCF hosted the final game on their home court. The Knights faced the University of Hawaii at Hilo Vulcans in the final match. The Vulcans were led by Head Coach Sharon Peterson, who would go on to coach the Vulcans until 2002, and would lead them to two National Championships. Amongst the Hawaii-Hilo players who took the court to face the Knights was future All-American Edie Manzano. The final was a best of three sets match, with each team playing to at least 15 points (the winner having to win by two points). The Knights triumphed over the Vulcans two sets to three (Set 1: 13-15 Hawaii; Set 2: 15-10 UCF; Set 3: 15-7 UCF), securing the 1978 National Championship.

The following year, the Knights would once again advanced to the AIAW Tournament Championship match with a record of 54–5, and would once again face the Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans in the final match. But the 1979 Championship would go to the Vulcans, who avenged their loss from the previous year. Lucy McDaniel would leave UCF at the end of that season. In 2006, she was inducted into the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame. Lucy McDaniel passed away in 2013. The 1978 volleyball team was inducted as a whole into the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.

The Lyn King Era In 1980, Carmen Pennick took over the UCF Volleyball program, and would lead the Knights for the next-two years. However, she failed to produce a winning season during her tenure, and was replaced by Lyn King as Head Coach in 1982. During that same year, the Knights joined the Sunshine State Conference (their first conference affiliation). The Knights returned to a winning record in 1982, and would go 38-12 the following season (10–2 in conference play for both seasons). UCF left the Sunshine State Conference and returned to Independent status for the 1984 season before joining the New South Women's Athletic Conference in 1985. In 1986, Coach King would lead the Knights to their first Conference Tournament Championship, the first of back-to-back league titles.

The Laura Smith Era In 1988, Dee Dee McClemmon took over as Head Coach of the Knights, and led them into the American South Conference in 1990. Her tenure with the Knights was marked by inconsistent performance, with only one winning season under her leadership in 1989.

In 1991, McClemmon was replaced by Laura Smith, a UCF volleyball alum who played for the Knights from 1977 to 1979. She would lead the Knights for the next seven seasons, and oversee their transition first into the Sun Belt Conference in 1991, then into the Trans America Athletic Conference (later re-christened the Atlantic-Sun Conference) in 1992. During her tenure as UCF's Head Coach, Smith would lead the Knights to six consecutive Conference Tournament Championships, and would not loose a single conference match during that six-year run (a 65 match conference win streak). She would also lead them to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1994, the first of four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Their overall record during her time as coach was 164–61.

The Meg Colado Era Laura Smith stepped down as Head Coach at the end of the 1997 season, and was replaced with Miriam Ochoa. The latter would only lead UCF Volleyball for one year, as the Knights posted their first losing record in nine seasons in 1998. Meg Colado (a former standout player at the University of Florida) took over the helm as Head Coach in 1999, and would remain with the program until the end of the 2007 season. During her nine years with UCF, Colado led the Knights to three consecutive 20+ win seasons from 2001 to 2003. Earning NCAA tournament births during each of those three seasons, the Knights made their first appearance in the second round of the tournament in 2003. In 2005, UCF joined Conference-USA, but the Knights would not find early success in their new conference. In Colado's final four years with UCF, the Knights posted four consecutive below-500 seasons, with only 5 wins in the 2006 season.

The Todd Dagenais Era In 2008, Todd Dagenais took over the UCF Knights Volleyball program as Head Coach. Dagenais had been a part of the 2004 U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team coaching staff that competed in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and had been an Assistant Coach at USC and Michigan State. He would return to the USA coaching staff as an assistant in 2016 during the Knights' off-season. Dagenais would go on to lead the Knights for the next 15 seasons (the longest tenured Head Coach in UCF Volleyball history). In 2011, Dagenais led the Knights to their first winning record since 2003, and would post winning records for UCF's final two years in Conference-USA.

In 2013, UCF moved into the American Athletic Conference, and began a period of dominance in their new league. During the Knights' ten seasons in the American Conference, UCF won six conference titles, including five straight from 2018 to 2022, and made the NCAA Tournament six times. The Knights advanced to the second round of the tournament in three of their six tournament appearances. They also made the second round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) Tournament in 2017. Dagenais earned more wins than any other coach in the conference during that period, and was named the American Conference Volleyball Coach of the Year four times. UCF's overall record during their ten years in the conference was 227-82 (142–38 in conference play). This included two seasons which saw the Knights go undefeated in conference play (2018, 2020), and two seasons where they only lost once conference match (2021, 2022). Dagenais became UCF's winningest head coach following a victory over Florida State in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament in 2019.

A major contributor on the court to the Knights' success during this period was Outside Hitter McKenna Melville, who would go on to become the most decorated player in the history of UCF Volleyball. During her five seasons with the Knights, she (along with her teammate Amber Olson) became the only players in UCF history to win five conference championships in their sport. In 2022, Melville led the nation in kills (573 total), and also led the nation in kills per set (5.51) and points per set (6.12). She earned four 500 plus kill seasons at UCF, and would end her UCF career with 2,563 kills (#1 all time at UCF; #8 in NCAA Volleyball history; #2 in the 25-point rally scoring era of NCAA Volleyball). She is one of only ten players in NCAA history with at least 2,500 career kills. By the end of her time with UCF Volleyball, Melville would be named AVCA First Team All-American in 2022, Third Team All-American in 2021, and would receive Honorable Mention nods in 2018 and 2019. She also finished in the top ten of UCF records in career defensive digs (1,650), service aces (123), and in solo blocks (66). Melville was unanimously selected the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year three times in a row (2020, 2021, 2022). Upon completion of her collegiate career, Melville was offered the opportunity to play in the new Pro Volleyball Federation league (later Major League Volleyball), but turned down the offer. Instead, she chose to return home to her native Eagan, Minnesota, to replace her mother as the Eagan High School Volleyball Coach.

Transition to the Big 12