The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Samford
Volleyball Edged By Samford, 3-2
9/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB volleyball team fell to cross-town rival Samford, 3-2, in a close five-set match on Tuesday night at the Pete Hanna Center. The Blazers and Bulldogs saw 40 ties and 14 lead changes during the match.
"Obviously disappointed with the loss but I think we made a lot of progress tonight," said head coach Kerry Messersmith. "Our kids came out and competed through the entire match and that may have been the first time we have done that this year. We had some nice performances from our outsides, both Gabby and Bethanie. I think the biggest positive to come out of tonight was how they stayed competitive and the effort they showed throughout the match."
UAB (4-13, 1-1 C-USA) had three players finish with double-digit kills in the match. Sophomore Gabby Deshotel led the Blazers with 20 kills, junior Sydney Nelson had 13 kills and senior Bethanie Thomas added 12 kills. Freshman Gabbi Moreno dished out 46 assists and added 13 digs for her first career double-double.
Samford's (7-7) Michaela Reesor led the team with 20 kills and Erika Pifer ran the offense with 63 helpers in the match.
Defensively, freshman Alexis Howell had a huge night in the back row for the Blazers. She had a career-high 27 digs in the match. The Blazers also finished with 12.0 blocks on the night. Nelson had a career-high seven blocks, senior Leslie Ekpe had six and senior Sara Rishell added five.
The first set was a close battle between the two teams with seven ties and neither team leading by more than three points. Samford had a couple of runs to gain the advantage over UAB. UAB fought to tie it up again at 20-20 after a kill by Ekpe and a big block by Nelson and Ekpe, but Samford regained the lead and held on for a 25-22 win.
The second set proved to be a marathon with UAB outlasting Samford in extra points. With the match tied at 21-21 neither team had more than a one-point advantage as they continued to tie it up and trade the lead.
UAB found itself with set point 10 times and eventually put the Bulldogs away after a block by Rishell and Nelson and an error on Samford to win 36-34 and tie the match up at one-set apiece heading. Nelson had six kills in that set alone, while she and Rishell each had three blocks.
Out of the break, the Blazers were on the board first with two-straight points but Samford responded quickly and jumped out to a 10-6 lead. UAB struggled to get anything going as the Bulldogs had their best offensive performance with a .462 attack percentage. The Bulldogs went on to win the set, 25-17 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Samford seemed to be in control most of the fourth set, leading 17-14, but he Blazers hung around and an 8-1 run swung the momentum in their favor with a 22-19 lead. Samford was able to get another point on the board, but UAB scored the final three points to win the set, 25-20 and force a tiebreaking fifth set. Deshotel was outstanding in the fourth, landing nine kills with no errors for a .600 attack percentage.
The fifth set proved to be no different from the rest of the match, as the teams battled back and forth. The Bulldogs were able to rattle off two-straight points and take a 10-6 lead. At 12-8, UAB called a timeout and Nelson landed a kill out of the break to cut the lead to 12-9. Samford reached match point, 14-9, when UAB used a 3-0 run to make it 14-12 but could not overcome the deficit as Samford was able to convert the kill to win the match.
UAB be back in action in Conference USA play this weekend when it travels to Florida Atlantic and FIU. The Blazers and the Owls will meet Friday, Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. CT, then UAB will head to FIU for a matchup on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 12 p.m. CT.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For volleyball news, follow @UAB_VB.
