The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Memphis
Blazers Sweep Tigers, 3-0, Saturday On Senior Night
11/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 14, 2009
Box Score | PDF Box Score 
| Photo Gallery
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Behind 11 kills and nine blocks from freshman Sam Serley, the UAB volleyball team defeated Memphis, 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-7), in Saturday night's regular season finale at Bartow Arena.
The Blazers started off the night by honoring four players on Senior Night, and each one contributed significantly to the victory. Seniors Andrea Lalic and Savannah Pegg recorded 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Classmate Patty Paniagua posted six kills and four blocks. And graduating junior Aley Tallman, who was also honored, tallied eight digs.
UAB libero Heather Thomas finished with a match-best 19 digs, and Jordan McDonald added 12. Blazer setter Alison Woods led all players with 33 assists.
With the win, UAB finishes the regular season at 17-15 (9-7 C-USA), having won six of its past eight matches. Memphis closes its season at 7-24 (3-13 C-USA).
The Blazers will now travel to Houston, Texas, for the Conference USA volleyball tournament, which begins Friday, Nov. 20. UAB has earned the No. 7 seed and will play second-seeded Tulsa in the opening round of the event, which is hosted by Rice.
"This was a good win for us heading into the conference tournament," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "We played some pretty strong volleyball this week to sweep both Marshall and Memphis. Hopefully we're peaking at the right time.
"I'm also glad we were able to send our seniors out with a win in their final home match. This was just a good all-around win."
UAB dominated every aspect of Saturday's victory over Memphis. The Blazers out-hit the Tigers, .288-.026, out-blocked them, 13-4, and out-dug them, 56-48. The Blazers led from start to finish in both the first and third sets and pulled away late in the second frame.
The 25-7 third-set margin of victory was the second-largest single-set margin for UAB this season, only falling short of a 25-2 set earlier this year against Alcorn State. With the Blazers leading 5-2 in the third, Thomas served 10 consecutive points to put UAB in complete command.
Eight of UAB's 13 total blocks came in the final set as the Blazers held Memphis to a -.267 attack percentage over the final frame. Meanwhile, UAB turned in its best hitting performance of the night with a .435 percentage on 11 kills in 23 attempts with just one error.
While UAB placed three players in double-figure kills on the night, Memphis was led offensively by Altrese Hawkins with nine kills and Rebekah Strickland with six. Memphis setter Christine Bach handed out 22 assists, while libero Becky Shaffer led the team with 13 digs.
For UAB, Thomas continued to close in on the Blazer single-season record for digs. With 19 in Saturday's match, Thomas now has 569 on the year and is 23 shy of Brianna Galvin's 2006 school record of 592.
