The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tulsa
UAB Volleyball Falls To Tulsa In Five
9/29/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 29, 2013
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB volleyball team (12-6, 1-1 C-USA) lost in five sets to reigning Conference USA champion Tulsa (12-4, 1-0) on Sunday afternoon in Bartow Arena. The Blazers came out strong with wins in the first two sets, but couldn't close it out as Tulsa won 3-2.
"We came out and beat them in the first two sets," said head coach Kerry Messersmith. "Then to let a team turn around and beat you in three is unthinkable. It is not our physical ability that is hurting us right now, it is our mental ability. The one really positive thing that came out of this weekend was Bethanie Thomas. She had a phenomenal weekend and hopefully it gives her some confidence going forward."
Junior Bethanie Thomas led the Blazers with 22 kills, a career-high, and added 12 digs for her second-straight double-double. Sophomore Sam Skinner hit double-digits in her sixth-straight match with 19 kills. Juniors Kirinia Hirini and Sara Rishell added 15 and 10 respectively.
The Blazers covered the floor on defense, with five different players grabbing double-digit digs. They were led by senior Rachel Fairbanks with a career-best 32. Fellow senior Becca Howard added a career-high 21 and dished out 56 assists for her seventh double-double of the year. Also with a career-best was sophomore Mariah McCallum (15) and senior Ally Slaughter added 13 digs.
The match was an intense battle between the two conference foes. Tulsa took a 17-10 lead early in the first set, but the Blazers fought back to tie it up at 23-23. UAB pushed the Golden Hurricane to extras as the teams traded points.
At 28 all, UAB took the lead from a kill by sophomore Sam Skinner and a Tulsa error gave the Blazers the 30-28 win. Junior Bethanie Thomas tallied nine kills in the first set alone.
The Blazers carried their momentum into the second set. They came out and took a 10-6 lead to force a Tulsa timeout. UAB remained in control for the rest of the set to win 25-23 and head into the break up 2-0.
In the third set, Tulsa went on an 11-1 run to pull away from UAB. It went on to win 25-12 to get on the board. The Blazers were down early in the fourth, but a 4-0 run pushed them into a 10-7 lead to make Tulsa call a timeout. They held onto the lead until Tulsa was able to tie it up at 18 apiece. The Golden Hurricane eventually won 25-22 to force the deciding fifth set.
The fifth set mirrored the intensity of the rest of the match. Tulsa jumped out quickly with a 7-2 lead forcing UAB to call a timeout. The Blazers would keep fighting though and tied the set up at 12-12. Once again, the teams traded points in extras but it was Tulsa who came out on top from two kills by Kellie Culbertson.
"They showed a lot of heart," Messersmith remarked. "That is just something we have done, is dig ourselves a hole and we have to climb out of it. We have done a good job of climbing out of it, but we just dig it so deep that it was tough to come back from.
UAB will continue conference play on the road when it travels to East Carolina on Friday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. and then Middle Tennessee on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For volleyball news, follow @UAB_VB.
