The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tulane
UAB Outlasts Tulane Sunday in 3-2 Victory
10/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 5, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Sunday's volleyball matchup at Bartow Arena between the top two teams in the Conference USA standings lived up to its billing.
Tulane and UAB -- picked to finish first and second, respectively, in the league's preseason poll -- fought tooth-and-nail for five sets. In the end, it was the Blazers who pulled through with a 3-2 (25-21, 25-22, 16-25, 17-25, 15-6) victory.
"Tulane is a great team, but we always want our girls to understand they have a chance to beat anybody, no matter what," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "We're going to play hard every point of every match, and, because of that, we're going to win our share of matches."
Tulane (11-5, 3-1 C-USA) took the momentum into the fifth and final set after overcoming a two-sets-to-one deficit by rallying to win the third and fourth. But UAB turned that momentum around quickly.
The Blazers (14-3, 4-1 C-USA) jumped out to a 5-3 lead in the fifth, and then the block party started. UAB posted blocks on three consecutive points -- all involving Casey Dent -- to bring the crowd to its feet. Dent combined with Ivana Bozic on two of the blocks, and she teamed with Nevena Stefanov on the third as the Blazers opened a commanding 8-3 lead.
From that point, UAB's advantage never shrunk to fewer than four points. Leading 12-6, the Blazers rattled off three straight points for the win. Kills by Bozic, Jordan McDonald and Lilly Domingos sealed the Blazer victory.
"Volleyball is a funny thing sometimes," Messersmith said. "Momentum can change quickly. But we've had success in five-set matches, and I think our girls certainly entered that last set with a great deal of confidence."
In a match televised by CBS College Sports, Stefanov led all players with a season-high 55 assists. Of those 55 assists, 16 went to Dent, who led four Blazers in double-figure kills. Bozic added 14 kills for UAB, while Andrea Lalic and Savannah Pegg followed with 11 and 10, respectively.
Bozic also contributed a team-high 18 digs, logging her ninth double-double of the season. Stefanov chipped in 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the year.
The Blazers posted a high attack percentage early, hitting .364 in the first set and .333 in the second before cooling off as Tulane got back in the match. But UAB heated up again late, posting a .500 hitting percentage in the fifth and final set. For the match, UAB hit .274 to Tulane's .247.
UAB remained perfect on the season in five-set matches at 5-0. The nine-point margin in the final set is by far the Blazers' largest fifth-set margin of victory this year.
Sunday's victory was important for UAB on a variety of levels. For one, it moves the Blazers past Tulane and into first place in the Conference USA standings. The win also will almost assuredly move UAB up even further in the RPI. The Blazers entered the week at No. 38 and picked up two wins this weekend, including one over a Tulane team with an RPI of 27.
"We don't look at any match as more important than any other," Messersmith said. "This was the most important match because it was the one we were playing today."
UAB also extended its current winning streak to eight matches, the team's longest streak since winning nine straight in the middle of last season. Since losing their first two contests of the season, the Blazers have now won 14 of their past 15 matches.
