The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
East Carolina
UAB Locks Up Third Seed With Win Over East Carolina
11/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2007
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB volleyball team clinched a third seed in next week's Conference USA Tournament by beating East Carolina, 3-0 (30-23, 30-19, 30-22), Sunday afternoon inside Bartow Arena. The Blazers are now 22-8 on the year and finish C-USA play at 12-4. East Carolina drops to 15-16 (6-10 C-USA) with the loss.
The Blazers entered Sunday's match in a three-way tie for third place in the league standings with Tulsa and Memphis. Thanks to UAB winning and both Tulsa and Memphis losing on Sunday, the Blazers have locked up the No. 3 seed at next week's tournament.
Leading the Blazers on Sunday was junior Casey Dent. Dent finished with 16 kills on .483 hitting to go along with six digs and two blocks. Senior Fernanda Domingos had 12 kills and six blocks in her final match inside Bartow Arena.
"I can't say enough about these five seniors," said UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith. "They are a very dedicated and selfless group of girls and we're going to miss them after this season. But with that said, today was just their last home match, we plan to play several more matches with them yet this season and we need to get ready for the tournament and defending our title."
Junior Aleksandra Vujovic also finished in double-figures in kills for UAB with 14 on .379 hitting.
The Blazers hit .345 for the match behind another stellar showing from junior Nevena Stefanov who finished with 46 assists, five digs and three service aces.
Senior Brianna Galvin finished with nine digs to move to within 71 of becoming the school's all-time career leader. It was just the sixth time all season that Galvin failed to reach double-figures in digs.
Senior Shaniquwa Cooper finished with a match-high seven blocks, in addition to putting down four kills.
Highlighting East Carolina's performance was Peyton Thompson who finished with 13 kills and three blocks, while Kelly Wernert had nine kills and 11 digs.
The Blazers will begin play at the Conference USA Tournament in Huntington, W.Va. at 2:00 p.m ET Friday against the winner of Thursday's Houston-Southern Miss match.
