Perfect Home Record Ended with 3-2 Loss to UAB
Laura Der finished with a match-high 26 kills

Laura Der (left) had a match-high 26 kills, while Dorothy Rahal (right) earned her 1,000 career dig.

Laura Der (left) had a match-high 26 kills, while Dorothy Rahal (right) earned her 1,000 career dig.

Oct. 19, 2012

Final Stats Get Acrobat Reader

Final Stats

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - After starting the season with a 9-0 home record, Marshall volleyball took its first loss in the Cam Henderson Center against UAB, 3-2 (25-18, 21-25, 25-10, 23-25, 12-15), on Friday evening.

The Herd dropped to 16-7 (6-3 C-USA) with the loss, while UAB improved to 14-11 (6-3 C-USA). The defeat gives Marshall a 9-1 home record and marks the first loss Marshall has taken in a five-set match.

Outside hitter Laura Der led the Herd with a match-high 26 kills, while recording 16 digs to give her a double-double. Der has now recorded six games with 20 or more kills in the 2012 season. She also led the team in service aces, marking four for the evening.

Setter Sammie Bane earned a season-high 58 assists and also helped Marshall finish with a team attack percentage of .243 and a season-high 68 kills, compared to UAB's 52. The sophomore earned a double-double, contributing 10 digs against the Blazers.

Katy Schad and Sacha Byous-McConnell followed Der's kill count with 14 and 13 of their own, respectively. Byous-McConnell finished with a .308 attack percentage, while Schad led the team in digs 20. Schad's double-double gives the senior a team-high 15 for the season.

Freshman Jillian Shemanski posted a season-high 8 kills and was extremely efficient of the net, only earning two errors to book a .429 hitting percentage.

Defensively, libero Dorothy Rahal contributed 19 digs, pushing the junior over the 1,000 dig mark for her career. Byous-McConnell and Lauren Legge added five blocks apiece.

"We were out-competed tonight. Our ball control failed us at the worst times, yet we were in system enough that we should have been able to do a lot of good things. You have to give the credit to UAB because they got pounded in set three and acted like it didn't bother them whatsoever."

The Blazers were led by Sam Skinner with 17 kills, while Sam Serley followed with 11. Serley, the No. 1 blocker in Conference USA, put up two block solos in the match.

"We have to regroup be ready to go Sunday," said Jacobs. "It's past us and there is nothing else we can do about it."

Marshall will return to the Cam Henderson Center on Sunday for a match against Memphis at 1 p.m. ET. Be sure to wear your pink to support "Dig for the Cure" and Breast Cancer Awareness month.