The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
2005 UAB Volleyball Season Review
11/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-- With its 3-1 loss to SMU last Thursday at the Conference USA Volleyball Tournament in Houston, the UAB volleyball team's season came to an end. The 2005 Blazers finished the year with a 14-13 overall record and 5-10 mark in Conference USA, earning the number ten seed for the C-USA Tournament hosted by Rice University. After winning just one match in 2004, the 2005 UAB squad recorded the biggest single-season improvement in school history.
Quite A Turnaround ...
After tallying just one victory during the 2004 season, the 2005 UAB volleyball squad turned things around for the greatest single-season improvement in school history. With 14 wins in 2005, the Blazers had a +13 victory differential, one more than the 1980 team and the 1995 squad which each finished at +12.
A Winning Record ...
After eight consecutive losing seasons, the Blazers finished the 2005 campaign with a winning record. The last time UAB finished a season with a winning mark was 1995, as the team went 21-18 in its inaugural Conference USA season. Overall, UAB has had just ten winning teams in the volleyball program's 27 years of existence, including a five-year stretch from 1989-1993 where the Blazers won at least 20 matches each season.
Seeing Double ...
Five of UAB's eight eligible players in 2005 recorded at least one double-double. Freshman Ivana Bozic led the way with 14, while freshmen Aleksandra Vujovic tallied 11. Senior Isabel Oquendo also contributed eight, including one in the final match of her career against SMU at the C-USA Tournament. Freshman setter Nevena Stefanov also tallied eight, and Nicole Bowland had one.
Bozic Honored By Conference USA ...
UAB freshman Ivana Bozic was named to the All-Conference USA third-team and also received a spot on the conference's All-Freshman team. The first-year standout from Serbia & Montenegro tallied a team-best 449 kills on the year and ranked in the top-ten in C-USA with 4.45 kills-per-game.
Bozic became the first UAB volleyball player to receive all-conference recognition since 2003 when Martina Shields was named third-team All-C-USA and Bilun Gunal garnered All-Freshman honors. Bozic is also the first Blazer ever named to both the All-Freshman and All-Conference squads.
Bozic made an immediate impact in her first season at UAB, being named to a pair of all-tournament teams in the early season, as well as being the first Blazer ever to receive C-USA Volleyball Player of the Week honors on Sept. 12. She led the team in kills, ranked third in digs-per-game with 2.75 and led all C-USA players with 0.63 service aces-per-game.
Making A Dent ...
UAB freshman Casey Dent finished the 2005 season ranked in the top-ten in Conference USA with a .304 hitting percentage. Dent, who played in all 101 UAB games this season, racked up 222 kills. She also ranked in the league's top ten in C-USA matches with a .318 attack mark. Dent's attack percentage of .632 against Lipscomb on Sept. 2 was the best by any Blazer this season.
Bowland A Brick Wall ...
After playing the entire 2004 season and part of the 2005 season as a front-row attacker, sophomore Nicole Bowland found a new home on the back row for the Blazers in 2005. Bowland led the team with a 3.34 digs-per-game average and ranked ninth in the league with 3.84 digs-per-game in C-USA matches.
Ready, Set, Go ...
Freshman setter Nevena Stefanov was been a big reason for UAB's successin 2005, leading the team and ranking third in Conference USA with 12.45 assists per game. Stefanov set a career-best with 68 assists in UAB's victory at Southern Miss Oct. 2.
Oquendo Sets Career High ...
UAB senior Isabel Oquendo had a solid campaign for the Blazers, ranking second on the team in overall kills (291) and fifth with 204 digs. Oquendo had the match of her career on Oct. 2 at Southern Miss. The senior set a career-high with 32 kills to go along with 11 digs in UAB's 3-1 victory. Those 32 putaways ties Oquendo for the third-highest single-match total in Conference USA last season.
Eight is Enough ...
The Blazers had nine players on their roster, but just eight who were able to competein 2005 with sophomore Charli Lindley out for the year due to injury. All nine players saw action, with Ivana Bozic, Casey Dent, Shaniquwa Cooper and Nevena Stefanov seeing action in every game.
Blazers Open Season With Eight Straight ...
After winning just one match in 2004, the 2005 UAB volleyball team recorded one of the best starts in school history, winning its first eight matches of the season. The Blazers started out with two wins over Stetson and one against Lipscomb before sweeping Samford. UAB then welcomed Georgia Southern, Louisiana-Monroe, Tennessee State and Southeastern Louisiana to Bartow Arena where the Blazers used victories over each squad to capture the UAB Tutwiler Invitational on Sept. 9-10.
New Season, Different Look ...
In addition to welcoming five freshmen to the 2005 Blazer squad, UAB was also led by first year co-interim head coaches Allison Magner and Nikola Petrovic. Magner was a two-year letterwinner for the Blazers before taking over as an assistant coach in 2004. Petrovic came to UAB from Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kan. where he worked as an assistant coach during the 2004 season.
