UAB Volleyball Tops Southern Miss 3-1 for Sixth C-USA Win

Sunday, March 7

Hattiesburg, Miss.

1:00 PM

UAB

-75,63 CUSA

Southern Miss

-75,23 CUSA

UAB

Southern Miss.

UAB Volleyball Tops Southern Miss 3-1 for Sixth C-USA Win

3/7/2021 4:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The UAB volleyball team overcame Southern Miss on Sunday afternoon. The 3-1 win is UAB's sixth conference victory of the season, the most C-USA wins since the 2013 season.

"It is always great to get a win against a solid opponent on the road," head coach Betsy Freeburg said. "We were certainly tested by the environment and are proud of the resiliency that our team displayed in set four. We had to go out and earn our points today."

UAB (7-5, 6-3 CUSA) was led by Fernanda Maida's 23 kills, while Alex Kells tallied 13 and Lexy Thomas added nine more. Lidya Canturk was responsible for 26 assists, while Grace Koper assisted on 21 kills off the bench.

The Blazers notched seven blocks on the day, five from Tatijana Fucka, while serving up five aces.

UAB started the first set on fire, gaining an early 8-2 lead, notching two service aces (Kells and Erin Powers) in the first 10 points. Southern Miss (7-5, 2-3 CUSA) rallied back, however, and tied the set at 18, forcing a Blazer timeout.

Following the stoppage, the Green and Gold claimed three straight points with kills by Thomas, Kiana Mack and Kells, making the score 21-18. UAB never looked back, winning four of the final eight points to take the set, 25-22, and go up 1-0 in the match.

The second set started much like the first, with UAB getting out to an early lead at 13-5. UAB led by as much as nine (19-10) before the Golden Eagles responded, winning 12 of the next 16 points to cut the UAB lead to just three, 23-22.

A kill by Kells extended the Blazer lead to 24-22 before Southern Miss notched the next point to make the score 24-22. UAB clinched the set on a kill by Maida off an assist from Canturk.

The Golden Eagles took the momentum they gained from the end of set two into the third frame as they led UAB by as many as ten at 21-11. The Green and Gold took five of the next six points to cut its deficit to 22-16 but it was not enough, as Southern Miss finished off the set.

The fourth set was even through the first 14 points at 7-7 before UAB found its groove, pushing the score to 12-7 over the next five points. Kells registered two kills in that stretch.

UAB led for the remainder of the set, extending the advantage to as many as six (15-9). Another set point kill by Maida clinched the match for the Blazers at 3-1.

"We are looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow," added Freeburg.

UAB returns to the court on Monday for game two of the series with Southern Miss. First serve from Hattiesburg is set for 1 p.m.

Volleyball season tickets are on sale by purchasing the 2020-21 Gold Card for $65 here. The Gold Card is an exclusive offer that grants you admission into all UAB men's and women's soccer, volleyball, women's basketball and softball events for the upcoming academic year. Contact the UAB Ticket Office at (205) 975-UAB1 for more details.

For more information on the UAB volleyball team, follow @UAB_VB on Twitter and Instagram.