Blazers Sweep Saturday of Fight Like Hal Tournament

Saturday, September 19

Birmingham, Ala.

10:00 AM

UAB

Mississippi Valley State

Amber Treace (pictured) and Zahria Ri'chard were named to the All-Tournament squad.

Blazers Sweep Saturday of Fight Like Hal Tournament

9/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

MVSU Box | Final Box

JSU Box | Final Stats

Sept. 19, 2015

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB volleyball team (7-9) closed out the Fight Like Hal Memorial Tournament with a perfect Saturday, defeating Mississippi Valley State and Jacksonville State in Bartow Arena.

“We played well today,” said head coach Kerry Messersmith. “The most impressive thing is we served very well. It was something we really focused on in practice, and it really showed this weekend. Zahria Ri’chard just played superb both offensively and defensively. We passed the ball well, which helped our offense. Amber Treace has made huge progress over the last several weeks and had a great weekend as well.”

The Blazers finished the Fight Like Hal Memorial Tournament in second place with a 3-1 record. Ole Miss claimed the tournament title after finishing the tournament undefeated

Freshman Ri’chard and junior Treace represented the Blazers on the All-Tournament team.

Ri’chard recorded 31 kills over the tournament and tallied a .463 attack percentage for the UAB offense. Defensively, the freshman recorded 14 total blocks over the weekend.

Treace set up the UAB offense with 128 assists in the tournament to average 9.85 per set. Treace added eight kills and seven service aces to the UAB offense. The setter totaled six blocks over four matches.

Mississippi Valley State (W, 3-0)

The Green and Gold dominated MVSU (1-11), outscoring the Devilettes 75-25, in the three-set sweep (25-9, 25-7, 25-9). The Blazers did not allowed MVSU to hit double-digit points in any set.

Junior Gabby Deshotel led the offense with seven kills for a .357 clip and added two block assists in the match. Ri’chard tallied five kills for the Blazers and attacked at a .833 mark.

Junior setter Caitlin Conner set up the Blazer attack with nine assists while Treace followed close behind with eight assists. Junior libero Emma Schroer and redshirt junior Ashlyn Sunseri headed the defense with six digs each.

Jacksonville State (W, 3-1)

UAB stormed out to an impressive set one victory, topping the Gamecocks (7-9) 25-8.  JSU battled back in a close set two before the Blazers came out on top, 25-19, to take a 2-0 lead to the break.

The Gamecocks battled back to win set three, 25-21, but UAB claimed the 3-1 victory after toppling JSU, 25-17, in the final set. The Blazers recorded 16 total blocks in the match compared to just three by the Gamecocks.

Deshotel led the offense with 17 kills for a .279 clip. The outside hitter garnered six digs and five blocks against the Gamecocks. Ri’chard recorded a career performance in the match with 11 kills and nine blocks, both career highs. Ri’chard closed the match hitting at a team-leading .688 clip.

Setter Treace totaled 45 assists in the match while adding three kills, two service aces and four digs. Schroer led the defense at the libero position with 17 digs.

The Blazers return to action on Monday as UAB hosts ULM on Education Day/Faculty Appreciation Match. First serve is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.

For more information on the UAB volleyball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_VB). For more on all Blazersports teams follow the official social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UABAthletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uabathletics) or on Snapchat (@uabathletics).