The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Samford
UAB Volleyball Defeats Cross-Town Opponent Samford, 3-1
9/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 28, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB volleyball team tallied its first win of the season as it defeated Samford, 3-1, here on Tuesday night. The Blazers took the first two games of the match before dropping the third. However, UAB rebounded to win the fourth game and take the match.
Cassi Ociesa led the Blazers with 15.0 points on 12 kills and six block assists. Isabel Oquendo added 13.5, as she tallied 11 kills and five block assists. Shaniquwa Cooper led the team in hitting at .375. The Blazers' defense held Samford to .086 hitting, as the Bulldogs had 43 kills on 152 attempts and recorded 30 errors.
"I'm really happy to have a win," said UAB head coach Melinda Claiborne. "It was really good to get that monkey off our backs. The girls have been really great, it's all them. They never quit in practice, they never had a bad attitude. They've always persevered through. They were definitely due for a win. It's great from a confidence standpoint, going into conference play. They look more comfortable out there."
In game one, UAB controlled thing from the beginning en route to a 30-24 win. The Blazers out-hit Samford, .265 to .132. Ociesa led UAB's offense in the game, hitting .625 with six kills on eight attempts.
In game two, the Blazers had to come back from as much as a 9-2 deficit to win the game, 30-27. UAB's defense held the Bulldogs to -.025 hitting, as Samford converted on only nine of 40 attempts with one error.
Samford (3-8, 1-1) came back in game three, taking it 30-15. The Bulldogs were led by Kristin Berryman's .750 hitting percentage. UAB struggled on offense, hitting .000 as they had eight kills and eight errors.
The Blazers (1-9) won the final game, 30-25, as Cooper tallied a .600 hitting percentage. Cooper had six kills on 10 attempts and recorded 6.0 points for UAB in the game.
"They never doubted," said Claiborne. "In that third game, people just sat back, which is what cost us the game. In the second game, even when we were down, they played with a lot of confidence tonight. It was really good for them to see that that's what it takes to put the wins together."
UAB next hosts East Carolina on Friday, Oct. 1, in the first conference match of the season. The match begins at 7 p.m. in Bartow Arena.
