The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Ole Miss
Blazers Suffer 3-0 Loss To Ole Miss
9/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Behind a solid .385 hitting percentage and a 12.5-point, 12-kill performance from sophomore outside hitter Jaclyn Toohey, Ole Miss defeated UAB 3-0 in volleyball action Wednesday evening at Bartow Arena. The match was the season opener for both teams. After a back-and-forth beginning in game one, Ole Miss took a 4-3 lead and never looked back. UAB would cut the Rebel lead to seven late, but Ole Miss held on to win the game 30-22. The Rebels would begin their string of out hitting the Blazers in the match, knocking down a .463 percentage to UAB's .125 in the first frame. Game two was also close in the beginning, but Ole Miss used an 8-0 run early and another 8-0 run late to pull away and win the game 30-18. The Rebels again out hit UAB .375 - .000. The story was much the game in game three. The game was tight with the score tied at six. The Rebels then used a 7-0 run to get out to a 13-6 advantage en route to a 30-24 win. UAB narrowed the gap to four late in the contest, but the Rebels maintained their pace and held on in the deciding game. Once again Ole Miss out hit UAB .306 - .073. Ole miss out hit UAB .385 - .065 for the match. In her first match for the Blazers, freshman outside hitter Charli Lindley had 12 points on 10 kills and two service aces to go along with 10 digs and a .333 hitting percentage to lead UAB. Sophomore setter Jenna Link added 26 assists for the Blazers. "I'm glad to get the first one out of the way," said UAB head coach Melinda Claiborne. "We were tired of playing against ourselves for so long. It was good for us to finally face some one else on the other side of the net. With the youth that we have, that had a big impact. The team was very nervous and tight and I think that showed in the first game. The longer we were out there, the more comfortable we got. "I was disappointed that some of the more experienced players didn't step it up in a role today and we are going to need that. I was very pleased with how some of the freshmen came out for us. We are serving a little more aggressively and that was good. Ole Miss is a great team. They are big and they really challenged us a lot. We have a lot that we need to continue to learn. I think they learned a lot this evening. I think it is important for us to be able to apply that pretty quickly into this weekend." Ole Miss was led by Toohey who led the match with 12.5 points on 12 kills, while hitting for .478. Junior setter Ashleigh Shear added 28 assists for the Rebels. UAB next travels to Evansville, Ind. to compete in the University of Evansville Invitational Friday-Saturday. Friday, UAB will meet Belmont at 5 p.m. and Saturday, the Blazers face Chicago State at 10 a.m. and take on Evansville at 5:30 p.m.
