The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tennessee State
Blazers Pushed But Prevail, 3-0, Over Tennessee State
10/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 13, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB volleyball team played from behind for much of the night Tuesday, but the Blazers came through with points in flurries when they needed them on the way to a 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-17) sweep of Tennessee State at Bartow Arena.
Three UAB players reached double-figure kills, led by Michelle Uzoh and Savannah Pegg with 12 each. Jordan McDonald added 10 kills, while setter Alison Woods ran the Blazer attack with 40 assists, her highest three-set total of the season.
UAB improved to 11-10 with its second straight victory and its third win in the past four matches. Tennessee State fell to 2-17 with the loss.
In Tuesday's win, UAB overcame major deficits in both the first and second sets.
In the opening frame, the Blazers fell behind 21-14 before mounting a charge. Woods served seven consecutive points as a pair of kills from Pegg mixed win with a Patty Paniagua kill and four Tennessee State errors brought the Blazers back to even at 21-21. UAB took its first lead since early in the set on a McDonald kill at 23-22 and put it away three points later on a kill from Paniagua.
In the second set, UAB topped its seven-point, first-set comeback by overcoming a nine-point Tennessee State margin. The Tigers opened up a 21-12 lead before UAB made its run. The Blazers won 11 of the next 13 points, including three kills by Uzoh, to knot things up at 23-23. Then, after splitting a pair of points, UAB claimed the second set with back-to-back kills from Uzoh and Paniagua.
"I'm glad we were able to come back in those first two sets, but we just can't put ourselves in those types of situations," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "We dug out of some big holes tonight, but we are not always going to be able to do that."
The third frame was not as dramatic. Though the Blazers fell behind 5-1, they quickly grabbed the lead at 7-6 and never trailed again. UAB had its best hitting performance of the night with a .261 effort in the third set. Uzoh recorded six of her kills in the frame and also was a part of three blocks as the Blazers rode out to a final margin of eight points.
UAB out-dug Tennessee State, 76-60, for the match and placed three players in double-digit digs, led by Heather Thomas with 21. MacKenzie Wilson and Aley Tallman added 10 each.
Tennessee State's Santia Sanders led all players in the match with 22 digs. The Tigers were led offensively by Shaquita Williams with 10 kills and setter Yamari Padilla-Collazo with 23 assists.
UAB now goes back to the road for four straight matches, starting with this weekend's Conference USA road trip. The Blazers will play Friday at 7 p.m. CT at SMU before heading on to Tulsa for a 1 p.m. CT match Sunday.
