The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Bozic Named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention
12/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 13, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Ivana Bozic, a sophomore outside hitter on the UAB volleyball team, has been named an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I All-America Honorable Mention, announced Wednesday. Bozic ranks 15th in kills per game this season with a mark of 4.90.
Bozic is one of six players from Conference USA to tab honorable mention status, joining Marshall's Kelly-Anne Billingy, Memphis' Shelby Burton and Laura Cote, Tulane's Sara Radosovic and Tulsa's Julia Silva.
With the third-highest single-season kills total in UAB history with 656 this season, Bozic led the Blazers to 27 victories, a Conference USA Tournament title and the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA Division I Tournament.
"Ivana grew tremendously as a volleyball player this year," said UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith. "I'm so excited for her to receive this honor because she truly deserves it after the year she had. She's just a sophomore, so we're excited to see her continue to improve."
The honorable mention All-America honor is just one on a long list of accolades for Bozic this season. She was a member of the Conference USA Preseason All-Conference Team and earned all-tournament team honors at the Georgia Invitational, Elon Classic, Mercer Bear Brawl and the Four Points Sheraton New Orleans Classic. She was the Tournament MVP at Mercer and New Orleans.
Prior to the Conference USA Tournament, Bozic was named first-team All-Conference USA and was then awarded the C-USA Tournament MVP award after leading the Blazers to the championship. Following the team's first round loss in the NCAA Tournament against #4 UCLA, Bozic was named to the AVCA All-Midwest Region Team.
The Blazers finished the year 27-10 after losing to UCLA in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. UCLA is still alive in the tournament and will take on #1 Nebraska in the semifinals on Thursday.
