The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
SE Missouri State
UAB Splits in First Day of UAB/Samford Challenge
9/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
UAB 3, SE MISSOURI STATE 0 | RADFORD 3, UAB 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB volleyball team split a pair of matches at home on Friday to kick off the UAB/Samford Challenge. UAB started the day with a 3-0 win over SE Missouri State and finished with a 3-0 loss to Radford.
UAB 3, SEMO 0
UAB (2-3) started strong and stayed that way throughout the first match as the Blazers swept SE Missouri State 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-22) in straight sets.
Erika Zembyla continues to dominate offensively and led the Blazers with 15 kills and posted a .286 hitting percentage. Petra Silic added six kills of her own and led the team with an impressive .500 attack percentage and 10 blocks.
SE Missouri State (1-4) hit .116 in the first set with 15 kills and ten errors before falling to UAB 26-24. After a close first set, the Blazers tallied 14 kills and took a 2-0 lead with a 25-19 second set victory. UAB held SE Missouri State to a .167 attack percentage in the third set on its way to 25-22 win.
RADFORD 3, UAB 0
UAB closed the first day of the tournament with a three-set loss to Radford (25-21, 26-24, 25-20), falling to the Highlanders who are still perfect on the season 5-0.
Haley Jared recorded a team-high 12 kills and posted a .179 attack percentage while the Blazers as a whole hit .152 with 42 kills and five blocks. Zembyla had another impressive outing as she recorded 10 kills in the match.
Radford (5-0) came out hot and jumped to a quick 19-9 lead, but the Blazers rallied back and finished the set within four points, 25-21. The two sides went back-and-forth in the second set and with the score tied 24-24, Radford scored on a UAB service error and followed that with a kill to take the second set, 26-24. The third set featured an early 4-4 tie before Radford regained the lead and took control, winning the final set, 25-20.
The Blazers are back in action on Saturday at Bartow Arena for the final day of the UAB/Samford Challenge. UAB will face Northwestern State at 10 a.m. and then close out the tournament with Tennessee Tech at 6 p.m.
For more information on UAB Athletics, visit UABsports.com. Fans can find UAB volleyball on Twitter and Instagram at @UAB_VB or on Facebook at facebook.com/UABVolleyball.
