The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Cincinnati
Blazers Fall To No. 20 Cincinnati
11/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 14, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Cincinnati (26-2, 12-0 Conference USA) extended its winning streak to 14 matches and remained unbeaten in Conference USA play as the 20th-ranked Bearcats defeated UAB 30-27, 30-20, 30-24 in volleyball action Friday evening at Bartow Arena.
UAB was led by sophomore outside hitter Breanne Swenson who had 14.5 points on 13 kills to go along with seven digs. Senior outside hitter Martina Shields had 13 points on 12 kills and seven digs, senior middle blocker Karen Boyd added 12 points on 10 kills and two service aces, while hitting for .333, and freshman setter Bilun Gunal contributed 37 assists for the Blazers.
"Tonight was a setback for us," said UAB head coach Melinda Claiborne. "We struggled a little bit here tonight and it's hard to struggle against a team like that. They are a good team, but I thought we would have a chance to win. We needed a good performance tonight and just didn't get it. I thought our seniors did a good job of leading and I thought Breanne Swenson had a pretty solid performance, but we needed a solid all-around team performance and we didn't get that. We will have to regroup now and we'll see what we are made of tomorrow night."
Junior middle blocker Rachel Torblaa led the match with 17.5 points on 13 kills, four total blocks and two service aces to go along with a match-high .706 hitting percentage to lead Cincinnati. Senior setter Laura Lauder added 33 assists for the Bearcats.
UAB returns home to Bartow Arena Saturday as the Blazers face No. 19 Louisville (19-4, 11-1 C-USA) in the final C-USA regular-season match of the season at 7 p.m.
Cincinnati travels to Tampa, Fla. to face C-USA rival USF (11-19, 5-7 C-USA) Saturday at 7 p.m. (ET).
