The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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UTEP
Blazer Offense Improves In 3-1 Sunday Win At UTEP
10/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 25, 2009
EL PASO, Texas -- Jordan McDonald posted her second double-double of the season Sunday with 13 kills and 15 digs, and the UAB volleyball team earned a 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19) Conference USA road win at UTEP.
A pair of Blazer middle blockers also made their impact felt as Michelle Uzoh tied McDonald for team-high honors with 13 kills and Patty Paniagua added 10. Uzoh also tied her season-high with eight blocks on the day.
Sunday's win snapped a three-match losing streak for UAB as the Blazers improved to 12-13 (5-5 C-USA). UTEP dropped to 10-14 (3-8 C-USA) with the loss.
"UTEP is a good team despite their record," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "This is a very tough place to play. They beat Tulsa and SMU here and took Tulane to five. They really are a good team.
"We came out with a lot of emotion and maintained it through entire match. We had a good practice last night and good warm-up today. I think we've realized as a team that if we're going to get it done this season, we have to do it now."
UTEP outside hitter Catherine Chavez led all players with 15 kills in the match, while fellow outside hitter Amy Sanders added 13 for the Miners. Despite those numbers, UAB managed to hold the UTEP attack to a .103 hitting percentage.
Libero Heather Thomas led UAB with 21 digs to bring her total this year to 447. She is now tied for sixth place on the Blazers' single-season digs list with Mellissa Cobb, who tallied 447 in 1990. Next on the list is former Blazer Ivana Bozic, who posted her fifth-place total of 453 just last season.
After splitting the first two sets Sunday, UAB controlled the third and fourth frames throughout, never trailing in either one.
The Blazers set the tone early in the third by jumping out to a 6-0 lead. UAB extended its advantage to its largest margin at 12-4 on back-to-back kills from Savannah Pegg and Uzoh. UTEP then went on a mini run to cut the lead to 14-11, but a Miner service error followed by consecutive blocks by Paniagua and Andrea Lalic halted that momentum, and the Blazers cruised to a set three victory.
"Offensively, we certainly performed better than we have in the last several matches," Messersmith said. "Defensively, we were out-blocked for the match, but we had some blocks at key times and really did a nice job on their outsides who are really good players."
In the fourth set, UAB used another string of six straight points to transform an early 3-3 tie into a 9-3 lead. UTEP cut that advantage to two points on several occasions, the last time at 14-12, before the Blazers won seven of the next eight points and took a commanding 21-13 lead on a block by Uzoh and setter Alison Woods. McDonald's 13th kill of the day later sealed the win on UAB's first match point.
Woods finished with 34 assists in the win, while UTEP setter Patty Jarmoc led all players in that category with 41. Three Miners finished in double-figure digs, led by Jennifer Nolasco with a match-best 22.
Sunday's contest concluded a four-match road swing for UAB. The Blazers return home for a pair of league matches next weekend as they host UCF on Friday at 7 p.m. CT and Southern Miss on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT at Bartow Arena.
