The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Notre Dame
Balanced Attack Falls Short For Blazers
8/31/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 31, 2012
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. ---- The UAB volleyball team’s balanced attack with four players posting double digit kills fell short at Notre Dame, 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-27, 23-25) on Friday night at Purcell Pavilion, in the Blazers first of three matches as part of the Shamrock Invitational.
The Blazers will look to bounce back on Saturday with a 3:30 p.m. CT scheduled contest vs. Eastern Kentucky.
UAB (1-4) claimed the first set, but Notre Dame (2-2) turned the closely contested match, taking the next three sets by two points each.
“We lead in all of the sets and we definitely had an opportunity to win the match,” head coach Kerry Messersmith said. “Obviously it was a tough loss, but we made some progress as a team, especially on offense.”
Sam Serley led the Blazers with 12 kills, hitting at a .435 clip and added six block assists to her stat line.
Kate Morrell, Michele Simmons and Sam Skinner all contributed 11 kills apiece. For the match, Morrell contributed a double-double, adding 20 digs, which tied a career-high for the Ogallala, Neb., product.
In the back row, Rachel Fairbanks continued to play solid at libero, collecting 19 digs, one shy of team-high for the night.
“We threw some different lineups at the team, and they responded well,” Messersmith said. “Sam Skinner did a great job for us with 11 kills and two blocks, but we just didn’t have an answer for Notre Dame’s big hitter (Jeni Houser).”
In the opening stanza, the Blazers built a comfortable lead and never trailed in the frame, winning 25-20. Up 7-5, setter Alison Woods held serve for the next six points to give the Blazers a commanding 13-5 advantage and cruise the rest of the way.
In the second set, UAB’s hot start continued, breaking out to an 11-4 edge on a Kiriana Hirini kill. However, the Fighting Irish mounted a comeback, tying the score at 20-all, when Andrea McHugh and Marie Roof teamed up for a block. The race for the next five points was won by Notre Dame, claiming the set 25-23.
The Fighting Irish and Blazers fought tooth and nail in the third frame, needing extra play to decide a winner. UAB served for game point, up 25-24, but Notre Dame strung together three-straight points to capture the set and hold a 2-1 edge in the match. The stanza consisted of 14 ties and nine lead changes.
Notre Dame hit .405 in what proved to be the last set of the match, committing only two errors on 37 attacks. The set found a 21-21 tie, but again the Fighting Irish won the race down the stretch, escaping with the set (25-23) and the match.
The home squad was paced by Jeni Houser’s 20-kill effort, as four players reached 10-plus kills in the victory.
