Southern Miss
UAB
Volleyball Eagles Sweep UAB, 3-0
11/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss volleyball team captured a three-set win over UAB (25-23, 25-22, 25-21) Friday night as the Golden Eagles improve to 17-10 and 10-6 in Conference USA while the Blazers fall to 8-19 and 5-10 in the league.
"I was really happy with the team play tonight," Coach Abbey Sutherland said. "We some people step up at key moments. Ashley Mell was aggressive when she needed to be when we needed a point. I was happy with Kelsea Seymour's ability to run the offense. She got a lot one-on-one sets; she was unpredictable and was an offensive threat."
Redshirt junior outside hitter Ashley Mell led all players with 18 kills on .500 hitting as junior setter Kelsea Seymour connected on seven of her 10 swings to hit .600. Seymour also had 30 assists to go with 10 digs. Sophomore Halie Ecker and junior Lisa Knecht paced the defense with 11 digs apiece.
The Golden Eagles also claimed the blocking battle, 9.0 to 3.0. Seymour led the way with five as Lauren Sears tallied four stuffs and Sarah Jane Bowden and Mell posted three each.
The first set remained close throughout, with back to back attack errors giving UAB the 9-7 lead. The two teams traded points via the error in some form. UAB finally put together a mini-run with Kate Morrell and Michelle Uzoh adding kills to go up 14-11. Out of the USM timeout, Mell connected on a kill that sparked a 6-0 run putting the Eagles up 17-14. UAB battled back to cut lead to one kills by Michele Simmons and Morrell kills. The teams continued to trade until UAB finally tied the set at 19-19. A UAB service error and two Ecker kills pushed the Eagles' lead to 22-19. Out of the UAB timeout, UAB rallied behind an Eagle attack error, a kill and ace to get within 23-22. After the Southern Miss timeout, Mell put the Eagles' at set point, but Simmons had a put-away to get back to 24-23, but Mell ended the set with a monstrous kill for the 25-23 win.
Seymour started the second set with a kill, but UAB answered with an Ally Slaughter kill and ace to go with a block for the 3-1 lead. USM came right back to tie the set at 4-4. From there, the two teams battled back and forth until Southern Miss took a 6-6 tie and turned it into a 9-6 lead when USM got a block to go with a UAB attack error and a Mell ace. After UAB tied the set at 10-10, Southern Miss used a 6-2 run to take a 16-12 lead. The Blazers dug in their heels and used an 8-3 run to take a 20-19 lead. Out of the USM time, Mell planted a kill in around the 10-foot line from the back row to tie the set at 20-20. The momentum swung to the Eagles as Seymour got a solo stuff followed by a Sears kill that forced the Blazers to take their second timeout. Slaughter got a kill for the Blazers, but the Eagles ended the set on an Ecker kill and Seymour and Sears stuff for a 25-22 win.
UAB took the early 7-3 lead to start the third stanza. Southern Miss battled back to tie the set at 8-8. The two teams traded kills four times before an Ecker kill, a Blazer error and two Seymour kills put the Eagles up, 14-10. UAB closed the gap to one point on three different occasions, but the Golden Eagles had an answer for each run. The set ended with a Mell kill and Bowden and Seymour stuff for the 25-21 victory.
Simmons led UAB with 12 kills and Heather Thomas added 12 digs.
"We did a good job keeping our poise," Sutherland said. "I really enjoyed the crowd tonight. We wanted to have fun because this is our last week to play at home and also we wanted to play well for our senior Lauren Broom."
Southern Miss closes out the home portion of its schedule Sunday against Memphis with first serve set for a 1 p.m., start. Senior Lauren Broom will be honored in a post-match ceremony.
