The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Volleyball Team Tops Samford 3-0
9/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2002
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB (3-8, 0-0 Conference USA) defeated Samford (6-6, 0-0 Atlantic Sun) 3-0 in volleyball action Tuesday evening at Bartow Arena.
Samford led most of the way in game one, but with the Bulldogs leading 19-15, UAB used a 4-0 run to tie the score at 19. The Blazers would take the lead for good at 22-21, going on to win the game 30-27. UAB hit for .357 as team and held Samford to a .136 hitting percentage.
With UAB leading 18-14 in game two, the Blazers used a 4-0 run to take a 22-14 advantage and cruise to a 30-19 win. UAB was once again helped by a .439 team hitting percentage, while holding Samford to .133.
The third game saw a tightly contested battle. With UAB leading 13-5, the Blazers used a 7-0 run to take a 13-5 advantage. Samford later used a 5-0 run to trim the UAB lead to one at 24-23. It took the Blazers four match points before finally pulling out a 34-32 victory.
Senior outside hitter Martina Shields and junior middle blocker Karen Boyd each had 19 kills apiece and hit for .333 and .467 respectively to lead the Blazers. Boyd also had five blocks on the evening. Senior outside hitter/right side hitter Dina Katsoulis, playing in place of starting setter Kilee Goetz, who was out due to injury, had 48 assists and three blocks for UAB.
"Our main focus has always been to build our confidence in the second game and this has really been the first match this season that we were able to come back and better our performance from the first game," said UAB head coach Melinda Claiborne. "It was great for us to be able to accomplish that. I have been preaching consistency to this team and they are really excited to gain that. It was really good that they fought through in the end and didn't let it go to a fourth game."
Junior outside hitter Alyssa Whitehead had 12 kills and a .375 hitting percentage to lead Samford. Junior setter Krista Kettering added 29 assists for the Bulldogs.
UAB next travels to Winston Salem, N.C. to participate in the Black and Gold Challenge hosted on the campus of Wake Forest University. Friday, UAB will face Wake Forest at 7 p.m. (ET) and Saturday, the Blazers will face San Diego State at 11 a.m. (ET) and Winthrop at 5 p.m. (ET).
