The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
LSU
Blazers Lose A Thriller In Final Match Of Tiger Classic
8/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 30, 2003
BATON ROUGE, La. - In the final game of the 2003 Tiger Classic, the LSU volleyball team (2-1) overcame a 2-1 deficit and rallied from behind to win a thrilling deciding game en route to a 30-24, 26-30, 17-30, 30-14, 22-20 victory over UAB (1-2) Saturday afternoon in the Maravich Assembly Center. The Bengal Tigers fought off three match points to hold on for the win.
After winning the first game 30-24, the Tigers fell behind 2-1 as UAB used poor hitting by LSU to dominate the Tigers in the third game. LSU rallied back to dominate the Blazers in game four and send the match to a decisive fifth game.
After falling behind early 7-4 in the final game, LSU rallied back to tie the game at nine. The game would be tied again at 10 before LSU took a 13-10 lead and looked to close out the match. A rally by UAB tied the game at 13 all before a kill by freshman outside hitter Lauren Leaumont gave the Tigers their first game point.
UAB fought off game point three times before a service error by freshman setter Jenna Link and an attacking error by sophomore outside/right side hitter Lindsay Carnohan gave LSU the 22-20 victory
Senior outside hitter Martina Shields had 20.5 points on 17 kills, two service aces and three total blocks to go along with 16 digs to lead UAB. Senior middle blocker Karen Boyd added 20 points on 16 kills and eight total blocks while hitting .343 and Carnohan posted 13 kills and nine digs for the Blazers. Link recorded 48 assists for UAB.
"Today's match was really incredible," said UAB head coach Melinda Claiborne. "It was just good volleyball. We started off the tournament a little slow, but came on strong as we went along. It was a very disappointing loss today though."
LSU was led by junior outside hitter/middle blocker Regan Hood who led the match with 24.5 points on 20 kills, three service aces and three total blocks while recording 12 digs. Freshman setter Daniela Romero posted 38 assists while hitting for .429 with four kills, three service aces and eight digs for the Bengal Tigers.
Boyd was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 17.2 points, 13.3 kills and 5.6 blocks for the tournament.
UAB next travels to compete in the Fiesta Bowl Tournament hosted by Northern Arizona Friday-Saturday in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Blazers open the tournament against Northern Arizona Friday at noon (CT).
