UAB Closes Evansville Tournament with Comeback Victory

Saturday, September 13

Evansville, IN

11:00 a.m.

UAB

6-3,0-0American

Western Illinois

1-8,0-0OVC

Western Ill.

UAB

UAB Closes Evansville Tournament with Comeback Victory

9/13/2025 2:29:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Blazer Volleyball came back from down a set to defeat Western Illinois, 3-1, completing its second winning weekend in a row. After a dominant first set win from the Leathernecks, UAB responded with consecutive sets hitting over .400 before forcing Western Illinois to hit -.125 in the final set.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Western Illinois opened the match with a 5-1 run, simply dominating on offense, taking leads at 15-7 and 19-9. UAB began a comeback with an 8-3 run to pull within five points; however, the Leathernecks closed out the set with a pair of kills and a UAB set error to win 25-18. Western Illinois hit .565 in the set.

The Blazers responded instantly with a .448 efficiency set, seeing six different players record a kill. Jorda Crook led the Blazers with five kills on nine attempts, just ahead of Abby Jones's four kills on eight attacks. After Western Illinois jumped out to a 9-5 lead, a UAB timeout turned the momentum, with the Blazers tying the set at 10, before taking a 13-12 lead. A five-point run later in the set gave UAB the cushion it needed to cruise to a 25-22 set win.

UAB followed up with an even better third set, hitting .480 with no errors on 25 attempts. The Blazers opened the third set with a 7-2 lead, slowly widening their lead to 12-6 and 15-8. Up 17-11, the Blazers went on an 8-3 run to end the set, including four-straight points to close the set.

The Leathernecks took smaller leads at the beginning of the fourth set before UAB went on a 9-2 run to take a 21-16 lead. The Blazers closed out the victory with a Kennedy Vaughn kill and a pair of aces from Crook. The fourth set was sloppy from either side, with the teams combining to hit -.050 in the set.

STANDOUTS
Crook led the Blazers in kills for the seventh time this season with 14 kills on 36 attacks, hitting .194.

Jones led UAB in terms of hitting percentage among qualified hitters. Jones was errorless on 20 attacks, garnering eight kills in the match.

Riley Lovell led the Blazers in assists, marking the third match in a row in which she has done so.

Meg Jarrett was perfect on her 15 reception attempts while tied for the team-high with 12 digs.

Summer Snead led the Blazers in blocks with four, also recording four kills on six attacks.

NOTABLES

The Blazers' 15 aces were the most in a match since last season's home opener against Alcorn State (15).
Mia Reese moves to 1,880 career attacks, cracking the UAB top-10 during the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-now).
Jones' errorless match is the second of her career (11/1/24 vs North Texas, 14-0-27)
Crook followed up her career-high four aces yesterday with a career-high five aces against Western Illinois.
Lovell set a career-high with three kills.
Annastiina Tarkkanen set career highs with five aces and 12 digs.

UP NEXT
The Blazers finish up the non-conference schedule just down the road with three matches at Samford for the Alabama Showdown. UAB opens the weekend on Thursday at 3:30 p.m., against Auburn. The Blazers will face South Alabama at 3:30 p.m., on Friday before closing the weekend against hosts Samford at 6:30 p.m., on Saturday night.