The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Samford
UAB Handles Samford In Three
9/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 6, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB volleyball team extended its winning streak to four matches with a 3-0 victory at Samford on Tuesday evening in Seibert Hall. The Blazers are now 4-0 while the Bulldogs fall to 2-3. UAB hit a season-high .377 as a team over the course of the match compared to Samford's .204 mark. Blazer freshman Ivana Bozic hit .438 and led all players with 17 kills. UAB is now 25-1 all-time against the Bulldogs.
"Its a win and we'll take it," said co-interim head coach Allison Magner. "We got in trouble there a little during the third game, but the coaches said what they needed to say and the players were able to respond and pull through. Casey [Dent] was a big threat from the middle for us tonight, especially in the second game, and Ivana [Bozic] was outstanding again."
UAB came out firing on all cylinders, dominating game one for a 30-12 win. The Blazers committed just two attack errors while putting away 18 kills and hitting .500 as a team. Samford struggled in the opening contest, hitting just .043 as a squad.
Game two was much tighter with UAB holding on for a 31-29 victory and giving itself a comfortable two-game cushion. The Bulldogs rebounded with 19 team kills and a .342 hitting percentage in the game, but the Blazers again notched 18 kills with just four errors.
Despite surrendering a lead in game three, the Blazers were again able to fight off a Samford comeback, finishing off the Bulldogs again by a score of 31-29.
Freshmen Aleksandra Vujovic and Casey Dent were instrumental in the Blazer victory. Vujovic hit a match-best .583 with seven kills in 12 attempts and also led the Blazers with eight digs. Dent contributed eight kills, five digs and a match-high three service aces. Senior Isabel Oquendo added 12 kills and sophomore Shaniquwa Cooper had seven kills and two block assists for UAB. Freshman setter Nevena Stefanov was again outstanding, leading all players with 48 assists in the match. Samford was led by Sara Sears' 13-kill, seven-dig performance.
The Blazers will host the UAB Tutwiler Invitational beginning Friday morning in Bartow Arena. There will be four matches on Friday and four on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. each day. The Blazers will take on Georgia Southern at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and Louisiana-Monroe at 7:00 p.m.
