The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
East Carolina
UAB Volleyball Loses in Four Games at ECU Friday Night
10/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 6, 2006
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Sophomore outside hitter Aleksandra Vujovic's double-double, 17 kills and 13 digs, wasn't enough to earn the UAB volleyball team a victory at East Carolina, Friday night, as the Blazers lost, 3-1 (33-31, 27-30, 30-27, 30-21). The loss drops the Blazers to 14-6 (2-3 C-USA), while ECU improves to 11-9 (2-4 C-USA).
Junior libero Brianna Galvin led the Blazers in digs with 17 against the Pirates, while sophomore outside hitter Ivana Bozic had a match-high four solo blocks to go along with her 14 kills.
Junior outside hitter Fernanda Domingos and sophomore middle blocker Casey Dent each had 13 kills and six digs. Sophomore setter Nevena Stefanov finished with 52 assists in addition to making six digs.
East Carolina was led by a strong offensive tandem Tuesday night in Kelley Wernert and Mignon Dubenion who finished with 20 and 18 kills, respectively. Heidi Krug had 52 assists, while Trish Monroe had 15 digs to aid the winning effort.
UAB found itself in a 6-0 hole to start the match after Dubenion put away her second kill of the match. The lead would be short-lived, however as a Bozic kill evened the opening game at 10-all.
The game remained close through the middle stages until the Blazers began to show signs that they may be pulling away, taking a 22-18 lead after a kill by Vujovic. Like the Blazers, the Pirates responded, evening the match, 25-25, on a Jamie Bevan ace. The teams went on to play to a 30-all tie with the Pirates closing out the game via a Dubenion kill on their third game-point to earn a narrow 33-31 victory in the first game.
Looking to avenge the opening frame, UAB jumped out to a 4-1 lead on a Bozic kill from Stefanov before ECU came back to take the lead, 12-11, after an attack error on Bozic. Down by three, UAB made its move, winning 10-straight points to take a 24-17 lead. ECU attempted to sneak back into the game by cutting the Blazers advantage to 27-26, but the Blazers were resilient, and a kill by Vujovic off Stefanov's 28th assist of the match gave UAB a 30-27 triumph in game two to even the match and one game apiece.
A string of UAB errors led to ECU taking a 15-9 lead in game three to force a UAB timeout. The Pirates went on to maintain their six-point lead, 27-21, after a hitting error by the Blazers. Trying to find a way back into the game, UAB narrowed the ECU lead to 29-27 on a kill by Dent, but the comeback came up short, with ECU winning the game, 30-27, on a kill by Bevan to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Game four was close early on, with a kill by Domingos making it 16-14 in favor of East Carolina. The Pirates would expand their lead however, 22-16, on a kill by Wernert and then went on to pull away with a 30-21 victory on Dubenion's 18th kill to win the match, 3-1.
UAB will next be in action on Sunday at 1 p.m. when it travels to play Marshall.
