The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Southern Illinois
Blazer Volleyball Falls Friday To Southern Illinois, 3-1
9/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2009
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Savannah Pegg finished with a career-high 17 kills Friday night, but the UAB volleyball team fell, 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 29-27, 25-18), to tournament host Southern Illinois on the opening day of the Saluki Invitational.
Despite placing four players in double-digit kills, the Blazers fell to 4-4 on the season, while Southern Illinois remained perfect at 8-0.
UAB continues its weekend Saturday with two more matches. The Blazers face Valparaiso at 10 a.m. and Murray State at 5 p.m.
After letting a late 23-20 lead slip in Friday's opening set, UAB won the second frame to even the match heading into the intermission. But the Blazers saw a 9-0 third-set advantage evaporate as Southern Illinois came from behind to regain a one-set edge.
The Salukis let a nine-point lead of their own slip in the fourth frame but regained control to finish things off. UAB cut an 11-2 lead to one on two occasions, the last time at 15-14, but an Alicia Johnson kill and a Saluki block started a 10-4 run to close out the match for Southern Illinois.
"We had a very difficult time finishing tonight," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "We had leads in the first and third sets with opportunities to win both. I thought our inexperience really showed tonight."
The Blazers struggled to stop Johnson, who led the Southern Illinois attack with a match-high 25 kills while hitting at a .489 rate. SIU setter Rachael Brown dished out a match-best 50 assists, while Lauren Blumhorst led all players with 32 digs.
Joining Pegg for UAB, Andrea Lalic notched 15 kills, while Patty Paniagua added 12 and Sam Serley managed 10. Paniagua led all players in the match with a .545 attack percentage. Setter Alison Woods handed out 49 assists for UAB.
Heather Thomas led UAB defensively with 24 digs, while three additional Blazers recorded double-figure dig totals in Jordan McDonald (12), Aley Tallman (10) and MacKenzie Wilson (10).
UAB, which had out-blocked six of its previous seven opponents, managed just four total blocks in Friday's match to 16 for Southern Illinois. Chandra Roberson led all players with seven total blocks for the Salukis.
"Southern Illinois did a good job shutting down our middles," Messersmith said. "We finally got our outsides going in the last two sets, but it just wasn't enough."
