The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Rice
Rice Edges UAB In Hard Fought Five-Set Match
9/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Trailing 2-1 in the match, UAB fought back to force a fifth frame, but Rice was able to outlast the Blazer volleyball team, 3-2 (25-21, 19-25, 25-27, 25-22, 12-15) on Sunday afternoon at Bartow Arena.
UAB (7-9, 1-1 C-USA) held a one-point edge, 12-11 in the final frame, but Rice (10-7, 3-0 C-USA) went on a 4-0 spurt to close out the match, giving the Owls their third conference victory.
“I thought we had an opportunity to win that fifth set, but we made some critical errors down the stretch that really hurt us,” head coach Kerry Messersmith said. “We’ve just have to be smarter and take care of the ball better.”
Kate Morrell produced a solid game for the Blazers, posting her fifth double-double of the season. The senior finished with a team-high 15 kills, along with 11 digs, two blocks assists and two service aces to her credit.
Next in kills was opposite side hitter Michele Simmons, who put away 12 kills on a .310 attacking clip.
“Michele had a nice day for us on offensive and it great to see us have balance with four players reaching double digit kills,” Messersmith said.
Joining Morrell and Simmons was Sam Skinner and Ashley Ricks who each rocketed 10 kills in the loss.
Despite the loss, Messersmith was impressed with the team’s serving as UAB finished with seven aces, featuring three from Becca Howard.
“One of our strengths today was serving, as it was on Friday (against Houston). We’ve really made a great effort to focus and become more aggressive on our serves,” Messersmith said.
Along with her three aces, Howard recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 23 assists and 10 digs.
Rice’s setter, Megan Murphy put forth an outstanding effort against the Blazers, finishing with a triple-double. Murphy dished out a match-high 58 assists, along with 10 digs and 10 kills in the victory.
Nancy Cole connected for a match-best 20 kills hitting .361 for the match, while Laurie McNamara chipped in with 17 kills.
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