The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Rice
UAB Volleyball Encouraged Despite 3-1 Loss To Rice
9/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 27, 2009
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Sam Serley matched her career-high with 19 kills Sunday, but the UAB volleyball team suffered its first Conference USA defeat with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20) loss to visiting Rice.
Serley hit .471 in the match and was joined in double-figure kills by Andrea Lalic with 12, but it was not enough to overcome an offensive performance from Rice that saw the Owls hit better than .300 in three of the four sets.
Three Rice players posted double-doubles, led by Ashleigh McCord with 14 digs and a team-best 18 kills. Setter Meredith Schamun handed out a match-best 58 assists and added 10 digs, while Jenn McClean had the third Rice double-double with 15 kills and 13 digs.
UAB dropped to 8-9 (2-1 C-USA) with the loss. Rice, which is receiving votes in the AVCA coaches poll, improved to 10-3 (2-0 C-USA).
"Rice is so good that you can't just let their setter stand there and run their offense or else they're going to beat you," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "We weren't aggressive enough on our serves, and they were able to run their offense at will, which hurt us.
"Still, even though we lost, I felt like we played better today than we did on Friday. We'll take a lot of positives from this match as we try to get better and better as the season moves along."
After Rice pulled away for a convincing first-set victory Sunday, the remaining three frames were tightly contested.
The second set was back and forth throughout with neither team able to gain a lead of more than two points. Tied at 22-22, Rice managed back-to-back kills from McCord and McClean to earn a set point. A kill by Lalic held off the Owls momentarily, but another kill by McClean finished the set and sent Rice to the locker room up 2-0.
UAB did not give in and jumped out to an early lead in the third set. A Rice attack error at 9-5 gave the Blazers their biggest advantage of the frame. And though Rice eventually took a three-point lead of its own, UAB regained its edge at 19-18 and never trailed again. A kill by Serley on set point sent the match to a fourth frame. Statistically, UAB had its worst offensive set in the third with a .185 attack percentage, but Rice's percentage was lower at .070.
The Owls responded in the fourth frame by hitting .364, their highest percentage of the afternoon. After eight ties early in the frame, Rice took the lead for good at 10-9. The Owls increased their margin to as many as six points at 17-11 on a McClean kill before riding out a five-point win.
Rice libero Tracey Lam led five Owls in double-digit digs with 29 as Rice out-dug UAB, 86-73. Blazer libero Heather Thomas finished with 23 digs to lead three UAB players in double figures. Jordan McDonald managed a career-best 16, and MacKenzie Wilson added 11.
UAB setter Alison Woods tallied 48 assists in the loss, marking her ninth match of the year with more than 40. Michelle Uzoh and Savannah Pegg each added nine kills for the Blazers' offensive attack.
UAB returns to action Friday at UCF when the Blazers open another conference weekend with a 7 p.m. ET match against the Knights.
