One loss turned into two and then into three and four, and eventually into a skid that would be the longest in two decades. A team meeting was called to “get on the same page.” Little seemed to work to turn things around up until that point.

But the gloom experienced during the past month by the UTSA volleyball team came to an end on Friday. And a simple facial expression might have done the trick.

The Roadrunners swept Alabama-Birmingham 25-22, 25-21, 25-19 at the Convocation Center to earn their first American Athletic Conference win. The triumph snapped an eight-match losing streak, the program’s longest since the 2002 team dropped nine in a row.

“It’s exciting being in front of you guys talking about a win,” UTSA coach Carol Price-Torok said after her team won for the first time since defeating McNeese State on Sept. 20. “It’s been a long time coming. We played really consistently. UAB gave us a fight, but I’m really proud of the girls for just weathering the storm and making some adjustments.”

The most important alteration might have had little to do with the lineup or schemes but instead with mood.

“Something that I tried to tell my team was like ‘smile,’ ” UTSA sophomore middle blocker Kai Bailey, who had a career-high 12 kills, .450 hitting percentage and two blocks. “Once you smile, it really takes the pressure off, it keeps you grounded, it keeps you confident.”

From start to finish, the Roadrunners (7-13 overall, 1-6 in conference) had plenty to smile about. They had one of their best attacking performances of the season (.320) and were efficient with their serving and blocking.

Freshman Ally Tribe had 10 kills, junior Mia Soerensen added nine and junior Caroline Krueger contributed eight. Sophomore libero Peyton Turner notched a match-high 15 digs and senior Alicia Coppedge tallied a match-best 2 1/2 blocks. Setters Annika Sokol and Morgen Durgens had 19 assists apiece.

“We’ve been working so hard and it’s just real rewarding to see that what we’re doing in the gym during the week is showing,” Turner said. “This was great for our team morale and to keep being competitive and to trust that the process will pay off.”

UTSA used a strong start and finish in each set to hold off Alabama-Birmingham (7-11, 2-5), displaying poise in key moments to prevail.

“I think it’s just continuing to pump them up in practice and tell them what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, is going to pay off and to keep doing it over and over and over again until it becomes comfortable,” Torok said.

UTSA returns to action at noon Sunday when it hosts Tulsa.

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1