The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
USF
Blazers Handled By USF, 3-0
10/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 22, 2004
TAMPA, Fla. - The UAB volleyball team fell in three games to host USF on Friday evening at The Corral. This loss marked the ninth in a row for the Blazers (1-18, 0-7 C-USA) who are still in search of their first conference victory. With the win, USF improves to 3-4 in C-USA and 6-12 overall on the season. UAB was led by Isabel Oquendo's 13 kills and Meredith Walker's 10 digs in the match.
"We had some good performances tonight from some of our younger players, especially Nicole Bowland and Meredith Walker," said UAB head coach Melinda Claiborne. "They stepped in and did a great job. Right now, we're struggling to put together any consistent play so I think it will be good to have the rest of the weekend off."
The Bulls set the tone early, hitting a remarkable .581 with 20 kills and just two attack errors in the first game which they took by a score of 30-19. USF's Flavia Silveira put away seven kills on ten attempts in the game while UAB was led by Nicole Bowland's five kills.
A 30-23 victory in game two gave USF a commanding lead in the match. Silveira and Kristina Fabris combined for 15 kills for the Bulls, matching the number of assists by setter Juliana Nogueira. Jenna Link contributed with a service ace for the Blazers and Walker racked up four digs to go along with a service ace of her own in the game.
UAB put up a strong fight in game three, but with the scored tied at ten, the Bulls were able to pull away for good. Four straight USF points on the serve of Farris put the Blazers in a hole they would not be able to escape. Oquendo led all players with six kills in the game, but it was not enough as USF finished off the match with a 30-25 win.
UAB returns to action next weekend when they travel to Texas for C-USA matches against Houston and TCU. The Blazers will face the Cougars on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before heading to Fort Worth for a match against the Horned Frogs at 7 p.m. Saturday evening.
