The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
East Carolina
Blazers Close Road Weekend With 3-1 Win At ECU
11/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 8, 2009
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Jordan McDonald led three players in double-figure kills Sunday with a UAB career-best 17 as the Blazer volleyball team defeated East Carolina, 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 26-28, 25-20) on the road.
McDonald, a Birmingham native who hit for a team-high .300 percentage in the match, extended her double-double streak to six straight matches by also recording 11 digs.
"Jordan played another great match both offensively and defensively," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "She's really played well over the past few weeks, and we're starting to see her do the things we know she's capable of."
UAB evened its record at 15-15 overall (7-7 C-USA) with a win in its final road match of the year, while East Carolina fell to 9-18 (2-13 C-USA). The Blazers will close out the regular season this week with home conference matches Thursday against Marshall and Saturday against East Carolina.
In Sunday's victory, Andrea Lalic finished with 11 kills and Savannah Pegg added 10 as the other Blazers to reach double-digits. Sam Serley was close behind with nine.
UAB setter Alison Woods posted a match-best 47 assists, while libero Heather Thomas led the Blazers with 19 digs. Thomas, who now owns 542 digs on the year, is exactly 50 shy of Brianna Galvin's UAB single-season record of 592 digs, set in 2006.
UAB out-blocked East Carolina, 11-7, led by seven total blocks from reigning C-USA Co-Defensive Player of the Week Patty Paniagua.
The Blazers were on the verge of ending Sunday's match in three sets, but a late rally in the third came up just short. Trailing 24-21, UAB fought off three set points to even the score at 24-24 and then fought off two more before East Carolina finally converted its sixth set point to win the frame, 28-26.
But UAB bounced back to finish the match off in four. The fourth set was tight until late with the Blazers holding just a 21-19 edge before rattling off four straight points to close out the match on two McDonald kills, a block by Paniagua and Pegg, and a Lalic service ace.
Lalic tied a career-high with four aces, and UAB piled up eight aces as a team compared to two for East Carolina. For the match, the Blazers hit for a .224 percentage compared to .117 for the Pirates.
East Carolina also put three players in double-figure kills -- Stephanie Turner with 12, Lizzy Bruin with 11 and Melissa Zentner with 10. Turner also led all players with 20 digs on her way to a double-double, while setter Hannah Fenker led the Pirates with 42 assists.
