The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Florida Atlantic University
Volleyball Falls to FAU in Second Meeting
10/21/2023 4:54:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
BIRMINGHAM – UAB Volleyball concluded the FAU Series with a straight-set loss to the Owls in Bartow Arena. The Blazers, who previously defeated the Owls Friday night, could not eclipse FAU and turn the tide.
The Green and Gold sit at a record of 3-20 overall and 1-10 in the AAC. They would out-block the Owls by two and out-hit FAU with .229 in the third set. There would be only two lead changes throughout the match.
IN THE SETS
The Blazers trailed FAU to begin set one but were able to take advantage of errors committed by the Owls to stay within a two-point margin. After back-to-back FAU errors and a kill from Jay Collins, the score was tied at nine. UAB and Florida Atlantic tied twice more before the Blazers found an opening with a 7-0 scoring run. With UAB leading 18-12, FAU responded with a 6-1 run to get within one point. The Owls regained the lead after an FAU kill and attack error before two additional errors gave FAU the first set.
The second set saw Florida Atlantic jumping to an early six-point lead, with UAB trailing 4-10. The Blazers would be unable to regain the lead, being held to nine points for most of the set before a service error snapped the scoring run. The Blazers went on to add three more points before FAU responded with a 3-0 run to take set two, 25-13.
In the final set, UAB trailed 3-6 before a Kelsey Smith kill put the Green and Gold within two. FAU kept the Blazers at a distance, but back-to-back kills and a block from Collins and Chloe Rodriguez put UAB within one point of the Owls. The Blazers continued to trail by two before Florida Atlantic was first to reach the twenty-point mark before going on a 4-0 run to collect the set and the match.
IN THE BOX
- The Blazers finished with a .198 hitting percentage, with Asli Celikkol and Madison Page finishing with the highest percentage with .313 and .667.
- Anna Burkhardt finished the evening with a 20-dig match.
- Kelsey Smith and Lidya Canturk finished with a combined 28 assists. Smith finished shy of a double-double with seven kills.
- The Blazers finished with four blocks to FAU's two and were neck-and-neck in aces with four on each team.
UP NEXT
The Blazers travel to Dallas and New Orleans to face SMU and Tulane for an AAC non-divisional matchup on October 27 and 29.
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