Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Southeastern Louisiana dropped a pair of matches Friday at the UAB/Samford Volleyball Challenge to open the 2014 regular season.

The Lady Lions (0-2) took the first set in a five-set match against co-host UAB (1-0), but fell in the fifth and deciding set. Michigan State (1-0), which advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 last season before falling to eventual national champion Penn State, swept SLU in three sets.

Southeastern wraps up participation in the tournament with a match against Jacksonville State at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Samford's Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, Alabama.

Match One – UAB 3, Southeastern Louisiana 2
Southeastern outscored UAB, 13-7, down the stretch to win the first set, 25-22. The Blazers responded by taking the next two sets by scores of 25-14 and 25-23. SLU tied the match with a 26-24 win in the fourth set, but could not hold off UAB as the Blazers took the deciding fifth set, 15-9.

Tiffany Thomas (15 kills), Parrie Hartley (13 kills) and Mikayla Shippy (53 assists) led the Southeastern offense. Shippy finished two assists shy of tying her career high. The Lady Lions recorded a .186 team attack percentage.

Morgan Todd led all players with 20 digs. The Lady Lions recorded seven blocks as a team with Veronica Turk (five blocks) leading the way at the net. Shippy, Brooke Balser and Landry Bullock all served up aces.

Sara Rishell, a second team All-Conference USA player last season, led the Blazers with 17 kills and a .593 attack percentage. Gabby Deshotel added 11 kills. Gabbi Moreno handed out 47 assists while Alexis Howell (17 digs) and Bethanie Thomas (11 digs) recorded double-digit digs.

Match two – Michigan State 3, Southeastern Louisiana 0
Michigan State outscored Southeastern 25-8, 25-11, 25-21, en route to a sweep of the Lady Lions.

Hartley led the Lady Lion offense against the Spartans with nine kills while Shippy handed out 19 assists. SLU recorded a .046 attack percentage as a team. Todd led the Lady Lions with nine digs. Shippy, Todd and Rachael Bunn served up aces in the loss.

Holly Toliver (14 kills), Allyssah Fitterer (10 kills) and Rachel Minarick (23 assists) led Michigan State's offensive attack. Kori Moster led all players in the match with 17 digs.


UAB def. Southeastern Louisiana 22-25, 25-14, 25-23, 24-26, 15-9
Southeastern La. (0-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Thomas, Tiffany 15-0-0; Hartley, Parrie 13-0-1; Bullock, Landry 9-1-2; Turk, Veronica 8-0-5; Friedman, Sarah 6-0-3; Ramee, Elizabeth 5-0-0; Shippy, Mikayla 3-1-0; Balser, Brooke 2-1-0; Devlin, Shelby 2-0-0; Grace, Lindsay 0-0-1; Totals 63-3-7.0. (Assists) - Shippy, Mikayla 53. (Dig leaders) – Todd, Morgan 20; Thomas, Tiffany 8; Balser, Brooke 8

UAB (1-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Rishell, Sara 17-0-5; Deshotel, Gabby 11-1-4; Nelson, Sydney 9-0-6; Ekpe, Leslie 8-1-9; Thomas, Bethanie 8-2-4; Moreno, Gabbi 1-2-1; Schroer, Emma 0-2-0; Totals 54-8-15.0. (Assists) - Moreno, Gabbi 47. (Dig leaders) - Howell, Alexis 17; Thomas, Bethanie 11

Site: Birmingham, Ala. (Bartow Arena)
Date: Aug 29, 2014  Attend: 175  Time: 2:22
Referees: Kelvin O'Brien, Michelle Prater


Michigan State def. Southeastern La. 25-8,25-11,25-21
Southeastern La. (0-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Hartley, Parrie 9-0-0; Friedman, Sarah 4-0-2; Thomas, Tiffany 2-0-0; Ramee, Elizabeth 2-0-0; Bunn, Rachael 2-1-2; Turk, Veronica 2-0-0; Bullock, Landry 1-0-0; Shippy, Mikayla 0-1-0; Todd, Morgan 0-1-0; Totals 22-3-2.0. (Assists) - Shippy, Mikayla 19. (Dig leaders) - Todd, Morgan 9; Balser, Brooke 5

Michigan State (1-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Toliver, Holly 14-0-1; Fitterer, Allyssah 10-1-2; Reinig, Chloe 9-0-2; Garvelink, Alyssa 5-0-1; White, Jazimine 3-2-2; Tompkins, Megan 2-0-0; Minarick, Rachel 2-1-0; Christenson, Autumn 0-0-2; Moster, Kori 0-2-0; Totals 45-61-5.0. (Assists) - Minarick, Rachel 23; Peterson, Halle 10. (Dig leaders) - Moster, Kori 17; Galloway, Taylor 8

Site: Birmingham, Ala. (Bartow Arena)
Date: Aug 29, 2014  Attend: 87  Time: 1:15
Referees: Tom Joseph, Kelvin O'Brien