The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tulsa
UAB Comeback Falls Short In Tourney Loss To Tulsa
11/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 20, 2009
HOUSTON -- UAB made Tulsa work for it Friday afternoon, but the No. 2 seed Golden Hurricane eventually eliminated the seventh-seeded Blazers, 3-1 (25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21) in the first round of the Conference USA Volleyball Championship at Rice's Tudor Fieldhouse.
Jordan McDonald keyed the UAB attack Friday with 14 kills and 16 digs for her eighth double-double of the year. Andrea Lalic, who earlier in the day was named to the C-USA All-Academic Team, finished with 11 kills, and Michelle Uzoh added 10.
The Blazers, however, could not keep up with the offensive performance of Tulsa's C-USA Freshman of the Year Tyler Henderson, who racked up 25 kills. C-USA Co-Player of the Year Jennifer Eichler tallied a double-double with 15 kills and 13 digs, while Tulsa libero Jessica Adams led all players with 28 digs.
With the loss, UAB concludes its season with a record of 17-16. Tulsa improves to 25-6 and advances to meet third-seeded Tulane in the semifinals on Saturday.
"We're obviously disappointed to be going home, but I am proud of the way our girls fought in this match," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "Things weren't going our way early, but we hung in there and showed a lot of heart."
Tulsa was on the verge of taking Friday's match in three sets before a late UAB rally in the third frame forced a fourth. The Blazers trailed 22-17, but six straight points gave UAB a 23-22 lead. A Henderson kill stopped the momentum momentarily, but a block by Uzoh and Lalic followed by a kill from Savannah Pegg sealed the set for UAB. The Blazers picked things up defensively, as well, holding Tulsa to a .073 attack percentage in the third after watching the Golden Hurricane hit .382 through the first two sets.
Even deep into the fourth frame, it looked as though UAB might push the match to a fifth set. The Blazers battled back-and-forth to take a 20-18 lead in the fourth. But coming out of a timeout, Tulsa rattled off six straight points to take control. A kill from Uzoh staved off the Golden Hurricane's first match point before Henderson's 25th kill of the day won it for Tulsa.
Friday's loss ended a streak of three straight C-USA Championship finals appearances for UAB. The Blazers won the tournament in 2006 and finished as the runner-up in both 2007 and 2008.
Blazer libero Heather Thomas finished with 17 digs on the day as she ran her season total to 586. She came up just six digs shy of Brianna Galvin's single-season school record of 592, set in 2006.
