The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
UTSA
UTSA Tops UAB Volleyball, 3-0 Sunday
10/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior Leslie Ekpe led the UAB volleyball team with 10 kills in its 3-0 loss to Conference USA foe UTSA on Sunday afternoon. The Blazers will have a quick turnaround as they host Middle Tennessee Tuesday night.
UAB (4-17, 1-5 C-USA) struggled to get going against the high-powered offense of UTSA (11-7, 6-1 C-USA). The Roadrunners hit .323 on the match, while holding the Blazers to a .092 clip. Dajana Boskovic led UTSA with 11 kills.
Ekpe led UAB in kills as well as digs, with a career-high eight on the day. Sophomore Gabby Deshotel added six kills with senior Sara Rishell and junior Sydney Nelson each adding four.
Defensively, three Blazers finished with two blocks each. Rishell, Deshotel, sophomore Amber Treace and senior Kiriana Hirini each contributed a pair. Senior Bethanie Thomas picked up seven digs at libero.
UTSA was out to an early lead in the first set, going up 15-9 to force UAB to call a timeout. Nelson landed a kill and sophomore Emma Schroer recorded an ace to cut the lead to 15-11, but the Roadrunners put together a 7-0 run to stretch the lead and took the set 25-13.
In the second set, UAB opened with the lead as it went up 3-1. The Blazers had a block from Hirini and Deshotel to start the set and Deshotel added a kill and an ace for the first three points. The teams remained close, but UTSA began to pull away with another run to take a 19-11 lead and held on for a 25-13 win to go up 2-0 in the match.
The Blazers fought hard in the third set after being down 9-2 early. After a timeout, UAB began to find its rhythm and used a 7-0 run of its own to cut the lead to one, 12-11 behind Hirini's serve. Rishell recorded back-to-back kills and combined with Nelson for a block during that span.
The Roadrunners swung the momentum back in their favor to go up 21-16, and had set point at 24-19 but UAB rallied for three-straight points to cut the lead to 24-22. The Blazers' comeback just fell short, as UTSA was able to win the set 25-22.
UAB will be back in Bartow Arena on Tuesday night to host Middle Tennessee at 7 p.m. CT.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For volleyball news, follow @UAB_VB.
