Pirate Comeback Eliminates Blazers from Postseason Race

Friday, November 14

Greenville, N.C.

5:00 p.m.

UAB

12-15,5-10American

East Carolina

12-14,4-11American

UAB

East Carolina

Pirate Comeback Eliminates Blazers from Postseason Race

11/14/2025 9:55:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. - UAB Volleyball will officially play its final match of the season on Sunday after a five-set loss at East Carolina eliminated the Blazers from the American Conference Championship contention. With UAB leading 2-1 after three sets, a pair of dominant East Carolina stanzas fueled a comeback win for the Pirates.

HOW IT HAPPENED
UAB jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but it was quickly neutralized as East Carolina returned with a 13-7 run into the media timeout. The second half of the set was filled with errors, both attack and service. East Carolina went on a 7-3 run to take a five-point lead and force UAB to take its second timeout. The Pirates closed out the set wth a Carlia Northcross kill. East Carolina outhit the Blazers .235-.065 in the opening frame. An ugly set all around, each team had five service errors.

Almost an exact mirror of the start to the first set, East Carolina took a 6-2 lead before the Blazers tied and went on a 7-2 run to force a Pirate timeout. East Carolina went on a three-point run to tie at 17-17, forcing UAB to switch to the 6-2 for the first time in the match. UAB went on a five-point run to pull within two points of claiming the first set. Jorda Crook's sixth kill of the set and an ECU error clinched the set for the Blazers. UAB hit .400 in the set with just two attack errors on 35 attempts. East Carolina's Aulie Huff recorded eight kills on 12 errorless attempts in the set.

UAB dominated the opening of the third set, taking a 15-5 lead, including a five-point and six-point run. Six UAB errors brought the Pirates back into the set as the Pirates went on a 9-2 run to force a UAB timeout. After the Blazers picked up a pair of points out of the timeout, East Carolina used a 6-1 run to tie the set at 21-21. UAB's first block of the set from Annastiina Tarkkanen and Addyson Smock started a run that the Blazers would win the set on, including two kills from Mia Reese and an Abby Jones ace.

The Pirates took an 11-4 lead to start the fourth set, yet again forcing UAB into the 6-2. East Carolina kept its distance from the Blazers until three Reese aces pulled UAB within two. After siding out of Reese's serve, East Carolina went on an 8-2 run to finish the set and force a fifth frame. UAB hit a negative in the set with nine kills and 10 errors on 31 attempts.

East Carolina slowly pulled away in the fifth set, piecing together points while siding out at a 100% rate through the swap. Already up two, East Carolina went on a four-point run, including back-to-back UAB errors. A Summer Snead kill and UAB's first block since the third set gave the Blazers a glimmer of hope, down four. However, East Carolina put an end to the match on two Kai Bailey kills, finishing the decisive set with five kills on eight attempts.

STANDOUTS
Crook led the Blazers in kills for the 15th consecutive match with 24 kills, just one shy of her career high. Crook's 13 attack errors were a season high, and her 66 attack attempts were a career high. Crook also had three aces to total 27.5 points.

Reese set a career-high with five aces. With 15 digs and 12 kills, Reese recorded her third consecutive double-double and seventh of the season.

Tarkkanen set a career-high with 43 assists, her second-career 40-assist match. With 11 digs, Tarkkanen notched her fifth double-double of the season. Tarkkanen has another great service night with three aces.

Meg Jarrett finished the night with 13 digs, her conference-high this season.

UP NEXT
UAB wraps up the 2025 season on Sunday at Charlotte. The match is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.