The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Louisiana Tech
UAB Volleyball Sweeps Louisiana Tech
9/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Three players recorded double figure kills to propel the UAB volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep over Louisiana Tech on Sunday afternoon. It was the first win for the Blazers in Conference USA play.
UAB (4-12, 1-1 C-USA) hit a season-high .398 in the match with 47 kills and just eight errors, while holding Louisiana Tech (7-9, 0-3 C-USA) to just a .064 attack percentage.
The Blazers were in control for the whole match in their conference home opener. The team came out strong from the first set, with just four ties and two lead changes in the entire match.
In the first set, UAB jumped out to a 5-3 lead with five-straight points behind sophomore Gabby Deshotel's serve. The teams remained close, with Louisiana Tech trailing by no more than three points until senior Sara Rishell put down a kill to give the Blazers a 14-10 lead and force Louisiana Tech to call a timeout.
UAB never lost focus and began to stretch its lead with a 4-0 run, then capped off a first set victory, 25-19, with a block by Rishell and fellow senior Bethanie Thomas. Thomas had six of her 11 kills in the first set.
The Blazers fell behind early in the second set, but several errors by the Lady Techsters evened it up at 5-5. UAB didn't look back, as it used the momentum swing to its advantage and surged ahead 11-6 to force another timeout by Louisiana Tech.
Later in the set the Blazers rattled off three-straight kills, with Deshotel putting down two, to take a 16-10 lead. Louisiana Tech fought back with a 4-0 run of its own to force UAB to call a timeout. Nelson tallied a kill out of the timeout to give UAB a 19-15 lead and the Blazers held on to take the second set, 25-18.
With a 2-0 lead at the break, UAB had found its rhythm and carried that through to the third set. The Blazers were strong in the final set, holding the Lady Techsters to a -.062 hitting percentage. The Blazers used five different runs of at least four-straight points to seal the win, 25-8, in the third set.
Thomas and Nelson led the Blazer attack with 11 kills, while Deshotel added 10 and Rishell had nine. Freshman Gabbi Moreno ran the offense for UAB, dishing out 38 helpers and guiding UAB to its season-high hitting percentage.
Defensively, freshman Alexis Howell was solid with 13 digs. Thomas added 12 for her third double-double of the season. Rishell led the charge at the net, recording five blocks.
UAB will travel just down the road to take on cross-town rival Samford at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For volleyball news, follow @UAB_VB.
