The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Stefanov, Domingos Honored Monday With C-USA Awards
10/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 13, 2008
IRVING, Texas -- The UAB volleyball team took sole possession of first place in the Conference USA standings with a pair of wins over the weekend, and the Blazers were rewarded Monday with two of the league's three player of the week honors.
Senior Nevena Stefanov was named the C-USA Setter of the Week, while classmate Lilly Domingos was recognized as the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week. The duo guided UAB to road victories Friday at Southern Miss and Sunday at UCF.
Tulane's Jen Linder rounded out the weekly honors by taking home the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week award.
Stefanov -- who has been named C-USA Setter of the Week twice this season and seven times in her career -- averaged 12.6 assists per set for the weekend. She posted 44 assists in a 3-1 win at Southern Miss and followed that performance with a season-best 57 helpers in a 3-1 victory at UCF.
The senior has now handed out 50-plus assists six times this season, including five of her past seven matches. She ranks second in Conference USA with 10.73 assists per set.
"We're 16-3 now, and that has a lot to do with Nevena," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "She runs our offense well, and you can tell by looking at our offensive numbers that she distributed the ball very evenly this weekend."
Domingos spearheaded the Blazers' defensive effort over the weekend with 16 blocks, and her 2.0 blocks-per-set average last week led the league. She recorded a season-high eight blocks in each match, posting one solo block and seven block assists in both contests.
The middle blocker also turned in an impressive performance offensively with a .390 attack percentage for the weekend. She tallied 2.75 kills per set in the Blazers' two wins. The award marks the first time Domingos has been named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week.
"Lilly is really starting to play well recently," Messersmith said. "She is playing a lot like she did at the end of last season when she was so strong for us. Both Lilly and Nevena are well deserving of their awards."
UAB players have now been honored five times in 2008 with C-USA weekly awards. In addition to the two awards this week, Stefanov was named the C-USA Setter of the Week on Sept. 15. Also, Blazer teammates Casey Dent (Sept. 29) and Ivana Bozic (Oct. 6) have been named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week this season. Monday's honors mark the third straight week at least one Blazer has been recognized by the league office.
UAB (16-3, 6-1 C-USA) returns to the court this weekend with two more league matches. The Blazers host Tulsa on Friday at 7 p.m. CT, and SMU visits Bartow Arena on Sunday for a Noon CT contest.
