The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
North Texas
North Texas Tops UAB Volleyball, 3-0
11/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior Leslie Ekpe recorded a career-high 11 kills as the UAB volleyball team fell to North Texas, 3-0 on Sunday afternoon in Bartow Arena.
UAB (6-21, 3-9 C-USA) could not get past a powerful North Texas (17-9, 8-5) team that recorded 46 kills, led by Carnae Dillard's 15. The Blazers finished with 34 kills in the match.
Along with Ekpe, six other players tallied kills for UAB. Senior Sara Rishell finished with seven and sophomore Gabby Deshotel added six. Rishell led the Blazers in hitting percentage with a .700 after no errors in 10 attempts.
Sophomore Emma Schroer topped UAB's defense with 12 digs, while senior Kiriana Hirini led at the net with two blocks.
North Texas jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the opening set to put the Blazers down early. The Mean Green held on to take the first set 25-13 and lead 1-0 in the match.
The Blazers found some spark in the second set from Ekpe, who recorded five kills. UAB was down 23-14 and fought back with a 4-1 run but could not overcome the deficit as North Texas held on for a 25-18 win to take a 2-0 advantage.
UAB picked up the intensity in the third with its best offensive performance of the day, hitting .324 in the set. Ekpe added five more kills to reach her career-best performance. The Blazers called a timeout down, 12-8 and fought back to cut the lead to two at 15-13 and force a North Texas timeout.
The lead stretched back to three, 19-16 as the Blazers called their second timeout of the set. UAB would cut the lead to three several more times but was unable to get any closers as the Mean Green held on to win 25-21.
The Blazers are back on the road in C-USA play as they travel to UTSA on Friday and Middle Tennessee Sunday.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For volleyball news, follow @UAB_VB.
