The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
East Carolina
Volleyball Sails Past Pirates In 3-0 Sweep
9/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 25, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- A balanced attack that tallied a .340 hitting percentage allowed the UAB volleyball team to sink the East Carolina Pirates, 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-13) on Sunday afternoon at Bartow Arena. The Blazers are now 13-2 on the season and a perfect 3-0 in Conference USA play.
UAB has now won nine-straight matches, including all three contests in league play over the week.
ECU dropped to 2-10 overall and 0-3 against C-USA opponents.
"I think our kids came out and played with a lot of intensity," head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "They did what we asked them to do and that was take care of the ball. We didn't make a lot of unforced errors and we really got our block going and did a nice job at the net."
Sam Serley led all attackers with 10 kills, while she committed only one error on 15 swings for a .600 clip. The junior from Nashville, Tenn. also posted four total blocks for a team-high 12.5 points for the Blazers.
As a team, UAB totaled 11 team blocks, as six players produced two-or-more stuffs in the victory.
Offensively, Ashley Ricks added seven kills on 16 swings, while Thais Soares connected for four put-aways on five attacks. All of Soares' kills came in the third set, when the Blazers hit .400 as a club.
On defense, Heather Thomas led a group of three players who collected double digit digs. Thomas sported 16 digs, while Kate Morrell and Ally Slaugher added 11-dig efforts apiece.
The Blazers improved their attacking percentage in each stanza (.290-.333-.400), while holding the Pirates to .020 as a team for the match.
Leading the match 2-0 in sets and up 13-10, UAB flexed its muscles, squeezing out the frame on a 15-3 rally claim the stanza and the match.
"We talked a lot about our focus after the game against Marshall," Messersmith said. "I thought Thais (Soares) came in and did a really nice job for us off the bench and the team came out and didn't let up in the third game."
The Blazers have won the last nine contests against the Pirates.
NEXT UP: UAB is off until Friday, Sept. 30, with a trip to New Orleans to take on the Tulane Green Wave. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Blazers will then take the court at Southern Miss on Sunday at 1 p.m.
