The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Rice
Rice Tops UAB Volleyball, 3-0
10/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
HOUSTON, Texas - Sophomore Gabby Deshotel led the UAB volleyball team with 10 kills in its 3-0 loss to Rice on Sunday afternoon. Seven Blazers tallied kills in the match.
UAB (6-19, 3-7 C-USA) finished with 34 kills on .168 hitting, while Rice (18-6, 8-2 C-USA) hit .384 as a team with 48 kills. The Blazers matched their season-high in three sets with six aces.
Along with Deshotel's 10 kills, junior Sydney Nelson added eight on .368 hitting percentage and senior Bethanie Thomas finished with five. Leah Mikesky led Rice with 13 kills and two players finished with 10.
Senior Kirinana Hirini set a new career-high with four sevice aces, while sophomore Emma Schroer added two. Schroer led the Blazers defensively with 17 digs, tying her career-best. Freshman Haley Jared added five digs and three players finished with four.
The Blazers were out to the lead early in the first set, but a 5-0 run by the Owls put them in front 9-6. UAB responded with back-to-back points, but another run by Rice stretched the lead to 12-8 to force a UAB timeout. Rice held on to win the first set, 25-19.
In the second set UAB was on the board first with a kill by Deshotel. The teams traded points, but a 4-0 run by the Owls would give Rice a 10-5 lead. Rice extended its lead to 13-7, forcing a UAB timeout. The Blazers were unable to overcome the deficit as the Owls went on to take a 25-16 win to lead the match 2-0.
UAB tied the third set up at 9-9 after kills by Deshotel and Nelson. After an exchange of points, Rice put together a 6-1 run to make it 16-11. The Blazers would use a 3-0 with a kill by senior Leslie Ekpe and an ace from Hirini to cut the lead to 18-15 and force a Rice timeout.
Schroer tallied consecutive aces after another kill by Ekpe to cut Rice's lead to 22-20 and force another timeout by the Owls. The Blazers would pull within one point, but Rice would score the final three points to win the set, 25-21 and take the match.
UAB will return home to host WKU and North Texas and Friday and Sunday in Conference USA play.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For volleyball news, follow @UAB_VB.
