The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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UTEP
UAB Beach Defeats UTEP and No. 12 FIU; Advances to C-USA Semis
4/27/2023 2:48:00 PM | Women's Beach Volleyball
The Blazers (18-14) opened the day with a 5-0 victory over UTEP, the stunned No. 12 FIU by rallying from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. The Blazers were victorious on courts one and two which evened the match, and it came down to the third set on court three in which Jessica Ennis and Adriana Pereira were triumphant 15-11 to give UAB the victory.
The win over the Panthers was the first victory against FIU in school history and was also the second highest ranked win in school history. In the process, UAB notched its 18th team victory of the season, which is a new school record.
Against FIU, the Blazers fell behind early as FIU won on courts four and five. However, Brooke Pertuit and Mikayla Law-Heese got UAB on the board with a straight set victory on court two. That duo is now 8-1 together and Pertuit has tied the single season school record with 22 individual wins.
UAB then tied the match on court one as Arden Copping and Jasmine Haas won a three-set match in which they controlled the final set and evened the match at 2-2.
With all eyes on court three, Ennis and Pereira jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and never trailed. The Panthers got within two points at 13-11, but that is as close as they would get as Pereira's kill on match point sent the Blazers to the C-USA semis.
UAB will play No. 15 Florida Atlantic on Friday at 12 p.m. and the winner will earn a berth into the C-USA finals on Saturday.
For more information on the UAB beach volleyball team, be sure to follow @UAB_BVB on Twitter and Instagram.
(4) UAB 5, (5) UTEP 0
P1 Arden Copping/Jasmine Haas (UAB) def. Sara Pustahija/Krista Paegle (UTEP) 21-12, 21-17
P2 Brooke Pertuit/Mikayla Law-Heese (UAB) def. Ema Uskokovic/Kaitlin Marting (UTEP) 21-19, 21-17
P3 Jessica Ennis/Adriana Pereira (UAB) def. Savannah Marenco/Paulina Acuna (UTEP) 25-23, 21-14
P4 Emma Andraka/Ella Alexander (UAB) def. Serena Patterson/Madison Hill (UTEP) 21-18, 21-19
P5 Olivia Stant/Olivia Chychrun (UAB) def. Marian Ovalle/Mia Ruiz (UTEP) 21-12, 19-21, 15-10
Order of Finish 1, 4, 2, 3, 5
(4) UAB 3, (1) FIU 2
P1 Arden Copping/Jasmine Haas (UAB) def. Lucie Pokorna/Mili Vukobrat (FIU) 21-18, 16-21, 15-11
P2 Brooke Pertuit/Mikayla Law-Heese (UAB) def. Rocky Mancinelli/Robie Ribeiro (FIU) 21-18, 21-17
P3 Jessica Ennis/Adriana Pereira (UAB) def. Giada Bianchi/Lisa Luini (FIU) 21-19, 21-23, 15-10
P4 Zuza Bielak/Ale Pratesi (FIU) def. Emma Andraka/Ella Alexander (UAB) 21-16, 21-19
P5 Emily Meyer/Kendra Brown (FIU) def. Olivia Stant/Olivia Chychrun (UAB) 21-19, 21-13
Order of Finish 5, 4, 2, 1, 3
