Blazers Fall Short to No. 22 Rice

Friday, October 14

Birmingham, Ala.

7 p.m.

UAB

-711,24 CUSA

Rice

-162,60 CUSA

Rice

UAB

Blazers Fall Short to No. 22 Rice

10/15/2022 1:16:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM – The UAB Volleyball team (7-11, 2-4 C-USA), returned home to resume conference play on Friday night. The Blazers fell to the No. 22 Rice Owls (16-2, 6-0 C-USA) in four sets on Friday Night in Bartow Arena.

"Today, when we stayed disciplined and patient following the game plan, we found success. It's tough to do that over time, and that's where we fell short against a very good Rice team." said head coach Betsy Freeburg.

IN THE SETS
The Blazers opened up set one, staying within close quarters within the first few points of the competition. A kill from Alex Kells put the Blazers up 5-4, but the Owls would respond with a series of runs to get ahead 16-11. The Owls would continue their run, holding onto the lead throughout the set. Rice hit .450 to the Blazers' .268, putting the Owls up one set with a score of 25-17.

In the second set, the Blazers came out swinging, battling back from an early 10-7 lead from the Owls to tie the score up at 11. UAB continued on their run, jumping out with a 3-0 run putting the Blazers up 16-13. The score would continue to accrue up to five points, with UAB leading 22-17 before closing out the second set with a kill from Chloe Rodriguez to give the Blazers a 25-20 win.

The third set saw a momentum shift in favor of the Owls, with Rice pulling in front with an 8-2 lead early. There would be more of the same, with Rice continuing with a 6-0 run to put the team up 14-4 before UAB put a kill on the board from Rodriguez. The Blazers then returned with a run of their own to close the score margin from nine to six. Rice's 15 kills to UAB's 11 would be the determining factor in the Owl's 25-16 win in the third set.

The fourth and final set mirrored the third, with Rice jumping to a 7-4 lead. The Blazers then responded, capitalizing on errors from the Owls to close the score within two points. But Rice continued their run, tallying up seven straight points to increase the lead to 17-9. The Blazers would not be able to close out the final set, being held to 13 points to the Owls' 25.

IN THE BOX
The Blazers were out-performed by the Owls in kills, with Rice tallying 57 to the Blazers' 51. In the sole set UAB won, the Blazers racked up more kills than the Owls. The Blazers would tie in aces with the Owls, with six apiece between the two teams. On the defensive, the Blazers finished the night with 76 digs to the Owls' 86.

Stat leaders for the Blazers included Alex Kells, with 16 kills and ten digs. Alex Kells led the team in blocks with 2, followed by Lidya Canturk and Chloe Rodriguez with one partnership between the two. Canturk also finished the night with 36 assists for the Blazers. Two Blazers finished the night with double-doubles, Maia Rackel (11 kills, 17 digs) and Alex Kells (16 kills, ten digs).

QUOTES FROM BETSY FREEBURG
"In set two, we served aggressively, and we're smart with our attacking. Erin Powers started getting in rhythm and made some great defensive plays that gave us repeated chances to attack, and we took advantage of that."

"Moving into Sunday, we've got to work on some of our rotations and figure out how to side out more efficiently. We'll get back to work tomorrow and look to build off the play from set 2."

UP NEXT
The Blazers return to action on Sunday, taking on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in Bartow Arena at 1 p.m.

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