The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Alabama A&M
Balanced Blazers Beat Bulldogs For Season-Opening Win
8/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 28, 2009
AUBURN, Ala. -- The UAB volleyball team used a well-balanced offensive attack Friday to take down Alabama A&M, 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 25-21), in its season opener at Auburn's War Eagle Invitational.
Five Blazers recorded at least seven kills in the match, led by freshman middle blocker Sam Serley with nine. Serley's freshman counterpart and fellow Nashville-area product Alison Woods tallied 24 assists, and MacKenzie Wilson dished out 18 as the duo combined to direct the UAB attack in its first match utilizing a two-setter system.
"I think the 6-2 offense went well," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "We tried a lot of different combinations today and played some girls in different positions. It's still going to take us a little while to figure some things out. We made too many errors tonight, but we're young and we'll continue to get better."
UAB (1-0) takes the court again Saturday at 10 a.m. (CT) on day two of the invitational at Auburn's Student Activities Center. The Blazers will face the host Tigers, which also opened the season Friday with a win over Alabama A&M (0-2). Auburn downed the Bulldogs, 3-0 (25-8, 25-11, 25-9), in the day's first match.
Defensively in Friday's victory, UAB had a pair of players tally double-figure digs as sophomore libero Heather Thomas racked up 13, and Jordan McDonald added 11. Senior middle blocker Patty Paniagua controlled the net with a match-high seven total blocks, including three of the solo variety. Michelle Uzoh, a junior transfer from Georgia Southern, added five blocks.
"Patty was great in the middle, and Michelle did a nice job, too," Messersmith said. "We haven't been a really strong blocking team recently, and I think we're much improved in that area. Alabama A&M is a tough team to block, but out girls did well."
After controlling the opening set throughout, UAB found itself locked in an 11-11 tie midway through the second frame. But back-to-back Alabama A&M errors ignited a 9-1 UAB run that ended when Uzoh and Aley Tallman combined on a block to give the Blazers a commanding 20-12 lead. UAB went on to take the set, 25-17, and go ahead 2-0 in the match.
Tallman, who returned to the UAB lineup after a two-year absence, joined McDonald with eight kills in the match. The redshirt junior, who sat out last season after transferring back to UAB from Nova Southeastern, posted a match-best .467 hitting percentage in 15 attempts.
"Aley came in and did a fantastic job," Messersmith said. "Offensively, she's really a crafty player. She's smart and she sees the floor well."
Alabama A&M fought back to take the third game, 25-21, as Madinah Abdullah collected five of her 12 kills. Bulldog teammate Clarissa Moore also finished with 12 kills on the day as the pair combined for match-high honors. Alabama A&M setter Natalie Rodriguez led all players with 32 assists.
The fourth set, which proved to be decisive, was back-and-forth throughout with neither team able to gain an advantage of more than three points until then end. After a kill by Moore cut UAB's lead to 22-21, the Blazers responded with three straight kills from Serley, Paniagua and Andrea Lalic to close the set and secure the victory.
Lalic and Savannah Pegg, both seniors, each added seven kills for the Blazers. As a team, UAB posted a .274 attack percentage to .153 for Alabama A&M, and the Blazers tallied 12 total blocks to five for the Bulldogs.
