UAB Opens Conference Play With Win Over Middle Tennessee

Friday, September 22

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

7:00 PM

UAB

7-9. 1-0

Middle Tennessee

4-11, 0-1

UAB

Middle Tennessee

UAB Opens Conference Play With Win Over Middle Tennessee

9/22/2017 10:09:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The UAB volleyball team opens conference play with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-22, 25-16, 26-24) win over Middle Tennessee.

UAB (7-9, 1-0 C-USA) started slow and dropped the first set 25-17 but answered the bell and put together three straight strong sets to win the match in four. Petra Silic continued her trend of having an otherworldly hitting percentage by hitting .579 against the Blue Raiders.

Silic led the Blazers with 13 kills on the night and added two blocks.

As impressive as Silic's hitting was, Victoria Young hit at an even higher clip with a .632 hitting percentage and had 12 kills and four blocks. Erika Zembyla rounded out the double-digit kill club for UAB with 11 kills on the night.

Redshirt freshman Emma Mitchell had a career night from the service line as she tallied three service aces. Freshman Shelby Holderfield also had a great night as she earned 40 assists, eight digs and three kills.

"It was a great night," head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "Everyone really stepped up and responded well from a tough first set. We showed in the final three sets what we are capable of when we play together and eliminate the errors."

Middle Tennessee (4-11, 0-1) played a strong first set leading wire-to-wire and limited UAB holding the Blazers to just 17 points in the first set. Dora Peonia led the Blue Raiders all night as she racked up 17 kills.

UAB didn't let the first set faze it as it won the second set 25-22 and then steamrolled to a 25-16 third set win. The fourth set seemed to be locked up as the Blazers took a 21-15 lead late but Middle Tennessee wouldn't go away quietly.

Down by six, the Blue Raiders began chipping away at the UAB lead and eventually tied the match at 24. The Blazers caught a break with an attack error by Vonnie Covington and then it got another attack error by Peonia to win the match 26-24 and secure their first conference win of the season.

The Blazers hit the court again on Sunday, Sept. 24 for its second conference game of the season at UTEP. The match is slated to start at 1 p.m.