BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Freshman outside hitter Makayla Tam recorded 12 kills in two matches on Saturday as Savannah State University fell to host UAB 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-15) and FIU 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-13) on Saturday at the Blazer Classic. 

Tam recorded a team-high eight kills against the Blazers (3-3) and added two service aces and four digs, and recorded four kills, four digs and three block assists against FIU (4-2).
 
Freshman outside hitter Chinenye Ofodile recorded seven kills in both matches, with three against UAB and four against FIU.  Freshman setter Briana Littlejohn recorded 19 assists in both matches with 10 against FIU and nine against UAB and added eight digs including five against FIU.
 
Junior setter Caitlynn Masoe recorded 13 assists, five kills, eight digs and five service aces in both matches.  She had all five service aces against UAB, which ranks tied for fourth most in school history in a three-set match. 
 
UAB 3, Savannah State 0
Tam led the Lady Tigers (0-8) with eight kills and added two services aces and four digs, while Masoe led the team with 12 assists and with five service aces and added three digs. 
 
Littlejohn added nine assists, three kills and three digs and senior outside hitter Christian Lyle added five kills and had a .364 hitting percentage.  Junior middle blocker Gabrielle Nathaniel led the team with seven digs and recorded four kills.
 
The Lady Tigers took an early 1-0 lead after a kill from Tam in the first set.  After a kill from UAB, SSU scored the next two points to take a nearly 3-1 lead.  With the score tied at seven, the Blazers scored the next seven points to capture a 14-7 lead.  UAB outscored SSU 9-5 during the rest of the set to take an early 1-0 lead.  Tam led the team with three kills, a .333 hitting percentage and a service ace.  Nathaniel recorded two kills, while Littlejohn and Masoe each added three assists and Littlejohn added two digs. 
 
The Lady Tigers scored the first three points of the second set and extended its lead to four at 7-3.  But UAB scored the two of the next three points to bring it to three, 8-5, and the Blazers scored the next five points to take a 10-8 lead.  With the score tied at 15, a kill from Tam gave the Lady Tigers a 16-15 lead, but the Blazers scored the next six points to take a 21-16 lead.  SSU kept pace as both teams scored four points and UAB won the set to take a 2-0 lead.  Tam led the team with three kills and added a service ace and three digs, while Masoe added five assists, one kill and two digs and Nathaniel and freshman outside hitter Ayree Gallon each added three digs.  SSU had more service aces than UAB, 2-0, and more digs, 12-10.
 
The final set was very close at the beginning as neither team had more than a lead of three points.  With the scored tied at nine, UAB scored 16 of the next 22 points to win the set and the match.  Lyle led the team with three kills and a .600 hitting percentage, while Tam added two kills, Masoe added four assists and Nathaniel added three digs. 
 
UAB was led by Gabby Deshotel with 15 kills and had a .379 hitting percentage, Amber Treace with 15 assists and Emma Schroer with 10 digs. 
 
FIU 3, Savannah State 0
Tam and Ofodile led the team with four kills each, while Littlejohn recorded 10 assists, two kills and five digs.  Tam added four digs, while junior libero Alexis Washington led the team with 11 digs.  Masoe recoded three kills, five digs, while Nathaniel added two kills and five digs. 
 
FIU scored the first seven points of the first set, forcing a Lady Tigers timeout.  After the timeout, SSU scored a point to make it 7-1, but the Panthers scored the next four points for an 11-1 lead.  FIU outscored SSU 14-7 during the rest of the match to take a 1-0 lead.  Nathaniel led the team with two kills and added two digs, while sophomore outside hitter Zariya Thomas added four digs. 
 
The Lady Tigers took a 3-2 lead early in the second set, but FIU scored three of the next four points to take a 5-3 lead.  SSU came back and tied the match at seven.  FIU scored the next seven points to take a 14-7 lead and outscored SSU 11-5 during the rest of the set to take a 2-0 lead.  Tam led the team with three kills, and Ofodile added two kills, while Littlejohn led the team with five assists and Washington added seven digs.
 
The Panthers scored 10 of the first 11 points in the final set, but the Lady Tigers bounced back scoring the next three points to cut the lead to six, 10-4.  FIU scored the next four points for a 14-4 lead, but the Lady Tigers once again battled back scoring the next five points, 14-9.  FIU scored the next three points to take a 17-9 lead and outscored SSU 8-3 to win the set and the match.  Masoe led the team with three kills and with five digs, while Littlejohn added three assists.
 
FIU was led by Lucia Castro with 12 kills and had a .417 hitting percentage, Katie Friesen with 19 assists and Maria McLamb with 13 digs. 
 
The Lady Tigers return to action next weekend with the Valparaiso Invitational.  SSU starts off with Loyola at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday with host Valparaiso at 11:30 a.m. and Elon at 4:30 p.m.
 
Short Box Score (Match)
Savannah State vs UAB (Sep 05, 2015 at Birmingham, Ala.)
 
UAB def. Savannah State 25-12,25-20,25-15
 
  Savannah State (0-7) (Kills-aces-blocks) - TAM,Makayla 8-2-0;
  LYLE,Christian 5-0-0; NATHANIEL,Gabrielle 4-0-0; OFODILE,Chinenye
  3-0-0; LITTLEJOHN,Briana 3-0-0; MASOE,Caitlynn 2-5-0;
  COLBERT,Charlinda 0-1-0; Totals 25-8-0.0. (Assists) - MASOE,Caitlynn
  12. (Dig leaders) - NATHANIEL,Gabrielle 7; TAM,Makayla 4
 
  UAB (3-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Deshotel, Gabby 15-0-0; Young,
  Victoria 7-0-3; Tinglin, Jillian 5-0-0; Hunter, Amy 5-0-5; Nelson,
  Sydney 3-0-0; Treace, Amber 1-0-0; Sullivan, Kassidy 1-0-0; Richard,
  Zahria 1-0-2; Rudolph, Emily 0-1-0; Martinez, Emily 0-1-0; Hinds,
  Sydney 0-3-0; Schroer, Emma 0-1-0; Totals 38-6-5.0. (Assists) -
  Treace, Amber 15; Conner, Caitlin 13. (Dig leaders) - Schroer, Emma
  10; Deshotel, Gabby 5
 
  Site: Birmingham, Ala. (Bartow Arena)
  Date: Sep 05, 2015   Attend:     Time: 1:19   
  Referees: Danny Humbers, Matafu Tiatia
 
 
Short Box Score (Match)
FIU vs Savannah State (Sep 05, 2015 at Birmingham, Ala.)
 
FIU def. Savannah State 25-8,25-12,25-13
 
  FIU (4-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - CASTRO, Lucia 12-1-4; CLAY, Tia 5-0-1;
  LEVORIN, Gloria 4-0-5; HOGAN, Katie 3-0-0; FRIESEN, Katie 3-3-0; ENE,
  Jennifer 3-0-1; FAUCETTE, Jade 2-0-0; MCLAMB, Adriana 1-0-0;
  SANTAMARIA, Jovanna 1-0-0; DODD, Dominique 0-0-1; Totals 34-4-6.0.
  (Assists) - FRIESEN, Katie 19. (Dig leaders) - MCLAMB, Maria 13;
  CASTRO, Lucia 11
 
  Savannah State (0-8) (Kills-aces-blocks) - OFODILE,Chinenye 4-0-0;
  TAM,Makayla 4-0-3; MASOE,Caitlynn 3-0-0; NATHANIEL,Gabrielle 2-1-2;
  LITTLEJOHN,Briana 2-0-0; THOMAS,Zariya 1-0-0; LYLE,Christian 1-0-1;
  COLBERT,Charlinda 0-0-1; WASHINGTON,Alexis 0-1-0; Totals 17-2-4.0.
  (Assists) - LITTLEJOHN,Briana 10. (Dig leaders) - WASHINGTON,Alexis
  11; MASOE,Caitlynn 5
 
  Site: Birmingham, Ala. (Bartow Arena)
  Date: Sep 05, 2015   Attend: 107   Time: 1:00   
  Referees: Marsha Goodwin, Danny Humbers
 
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