BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – ULM would fall to UAB in the opening match of Blazer Beach Duals on Friday (Mar.16), ending their five-game win streak.
"Tough way to start the tournament, but all of the pairs competed well and kept the scores tight throughout the match," said head beach volleyball coach
Russ Friedland. "We made some errors on our side of the net, and if we're to beat a team like UAB, we will have to take care of the controllables and execute the game plan more efficiently."
The Warhawks looked to be in comeback mode after a court three win for
Rebecca Brown and
Catherine Griffith would give ULM its first point of the day after a 21-9, 21-8 defeat of UAB's Gabbi Moreno and Emily Martinez.
Brown and Griffith are now and impressive 8-1 on the season, with their only loss to ranked TCU earlier this season. "Cat and Becca continue to do great things in the sand," Friedland said. "We can use that momentum headed into this afternoon's match and build off of their success as we face a strong UCA team."
Junior pair
Bailey Smith and
Allie Kemp took Blazer opponents Tressa Buckland and Kaylee McClure into a third set but fell 15-10 in the tiebreaker. Smith and Kemp dropped the first set 16-21 but rallied back in the second set to win 21-16, forcing the match into a third set.
The Warhawks dropped to 5-4 overall and will face the University of Central Arkansas at 4 p.m. in game two of UAB's tournament.
