The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Iowa
Iowa Tops UAB, 3-0, In Residence Inn Challenge
9/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
TEMPE, Ariz. - Senior Sara Rishell and junior Sydney Nelson led the UAB volleyball team with seven kills each, but the Blazers could not get past Iowa as the Hawkeyes took the win, 3-0, in the final match of the Residence Inn Challenge.
UAB (2-4) hit just .087 for the match, but Rishell led all hitters with a career-best .700 attack percentage, recording seven kills with no errors on 10 attempts. Iowa (3-1) hit .287 on the day and was led by Alex Lovell with 11 kills.
After dropping the first set, 25-16, the Blazers were trailing 8-3 in the second set when they were able to gain some momentum after back-to-back kills by Rishell and senior Bethanie Thomas. UAB eventually cut the lead to 12-10 and the teams exchanged points until Iowa was able to string together a 3-0 to stretch its lead back to five.
However, UAB would counter with a 3-0 run of its own to get back within two points (22-20) and force an Iowa timeout. Several attack errors by UAB sealed the second set win for Iowa, 25-21. The Blazers had their best hitting percentage at .235 in the second set.
The third set proved to be a tight battle all the way through. Neither team had more than a three-point advantage in the set and was tied 11 times. It was all tied up at 22-22 when an attack error gave the lead back to Iowa. The Hawkeyes followed that with an ace and another error by the Blazers gave Iowa a 25-22 win to take the match.
Along with Rishell and Nelson, Thomas added six kills and freshman Haley Jared had a career-best five kills. Thomas led the team with nine digs, while three other players recorded six apiece.
UAB will return home to host Chattanooga on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. CT in Bartow Arena. The Blazers will then be back on the road for the Magnolia Invitational hosted by Ole Miss Sept. 11-12.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For volleyball news, follow @UAB_VB.
