The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tulane
Volleyball Wins 11th Straight; Advances to C-USA Semifinals
11/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 17, 2006
HOUSTON, Texas - The fifth-seeded UAB volleyball team did it again, winning their 11th-straight match in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament in Hofheinz Pavilion by beating fourth-seeded Tulane, 3-1 (20-30, 30-27, 30-24, 30-28). The win marks the first time in school history that the Blazers have won two matches in a Conference USA Tournament and advances them to play Tulsa in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Sophomore setter Nevena Stefanov did an impressive job running the UAB offense against the Green Wave, finishing with 62 assists, while serving five aces and making seven digs. Sophomore outside hitter Ivana Bozic finished with her second double-double of the tournament with 24 kills and 20 digs.
Junior libero Brianna Galvin moved up to eighth in career digs at UAB with her 19 against Tulane giving her 1,077 for her three-year career. Junior middle blocker Shaniquwa Cooper was also strong defensively for the Blazers, making four blocks including one on match-point.
Junior outside hitter Fernanda Domingos was again impressive, posting 17 kills on .400 hitting, while making two blocks.
The win was the 499th for UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith who said she was ecstatic with her teams' intensity on Friday.
"These girls played with so much emotion and so much energy today it was really great to see and it was needed against this Tulane team because they are very good," Messersmith said. "We're very proud of this win but we need to move on quickly and prepare for a very good Tulsa team tomorrow."
Tulane was led by Sara Radosevic who had a remarkable 30 kills to go with 17 digs, while Jen Miller had 20 digs for the Green Wave.
UAB found itself trailing early when back-to-back aces by the Green Wave put Tulane in front 15-12 and then a hitting error on Vujovic made it 18-13, forcing the Blazers to call timeout. Tulane kept rolling out of the timeout until a Stefanov block stopped the Green Wave's seven-point run to make it 23-14.
The Blazers were unable to find away back in the first game as a Sara Thorson kill gave the Green Wave a 30-20 victory.
Both teams had a solid opening game hitting the ball as Tulane boasted a mark of .472 to UAB's .321. Dent led the Blazers in the opening frame with three kills on .429 hitting, while Galvin had four digs.
UAB came back in game two to take a 3-1 lead on a Stefanov ace and then expanded its lead to 6-3 on a Galvin ace. Another Galvin ace and an attack error on the Green Wave made it 9-3, forcing Tulane to use a timeout. The Blazers' run would ultimately be stopped at seven-straight points on a Vujovic hitting error, making it 11-4.
Tulane put together four-straight points of its own before a Bozic kill stopped the run and made it 13-8. The Green Wave kept coming, however, cutting the UAB lead to two before another Bozic kill made it 16-13 and then back-to-back kills by Domingos made it 18-14.
Continuing to push forward to even the match, Domingos finished off another kill and then freshman outside hitter Aley Tallman came into the match and made a kill to make it 23-16. It was the first time Tallman had played since Oct. 22.
Tulane would respond and find its way back into the match, tying the score at 24-24 after winning six-straight points. UAB then fought back and took a 28-26 lead on a Bozic kill and then a Tulane error gave UAB game points at 29-26. The Blazers then closed out the game 30-27 on another Bozic kill to even the match at 1-1 heading into the intermission.
The Blazers hit .295 for the game with Domingos and Bozic each recording six kills. Stefanov had 17 assists to aid the offense and move her up to fifth place all-time at UAB in career assists, while Bozic had seven digs on defense.
UAB came out from the break with high intensity, taking a 4-1 lead behind two Dent kills and then extended their lead to 7-3 after a kill and ace by Bozic. Tulane then closed the gap to two, 11-9, but a pair of Blazer points capped-off by a Bozic kill made it 13-9.
Still holding a slight lead, UAB brought the score to 17-14 on a Cooper kill and then added one a couple points later with a Domingos kill to make it 18-15. With the Blazers lead down to one, Stefanov laid over a dump kill to make it 20-18 and force a Tulane timeout.
The Green Wave came out from the timeout and quickly evened the game at 20-20 but then back-to-back service aces by Stefanov made it 23-20 in favor of UAB and then a hitting error on Tulane made it 24-20, forcing the Green Wave to take another timeout.
UAB then went up 26-22 on a block by Cooper and Domingos and then an attack error on the Green Wave brought the count to 27-22. Tulane then pulled out a lengthy point to cut the UAB lead to 27-24 but a Domingos kill on the very next point made it 28-24. On the next point, an attack error on the Green Wave brought up game points and the Blazers made good with them, closing out the game, 30-24 on a block by Dent and Tallman.
Bozic led the Blazers with six kills on .333 hitting in the game, while Stefanov had 16 assists.
Tulane came out and took a 10-7 lead in game four before a serving rotation error evened the game at 10-10. UAB then went ahead on an emphatic Domingos kill that made it 13-11 and then another Domingos kill followed by an ace made it 16-13.
The Green Wave came back quickly, however, evening the score at 16-16 after a Vlaskovic kill. The Blazers were able to sustain the Tulane charge, winning the next three points capped-off by a Vujovic ace that forced a Tulane timeout.
Inching forward, the Blazers got a kill by Bozic to bring the score to 23-18, giving UAB its largest lead of the game. Tulane then came back and brought the score to 24-22 on a Radosevic ace and then cut the lead to one on the next point with a kill, forcing UAB to take a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Domingos put away a kill to make it 25-23 in favor of UAB and then a Dent kill a couple points later made it 26-24. Edging closer to victory, a Dent kill made it 28-25 but then three-straight Tulane points evened things back up at 28-28.
UAB came back to bring up game-point on a Bozic kill and the Blazers took advantage, closing out the game 30-28 on a block by Stefanov and Cooper to give the Blazers the 3-1 victory in the match. The block was the lone attack error for Tulane in the game. The game-four victory was the fourth-straight four-game win for the Blazers.
Up next for the Blazers will be top-seeded Tulsa who defeated SMU in their quarterfinal earlier in the day, 3-1. The Blazers and Golden Hurricane will take to the court at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
