The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Rice
Blazer Volleyball Streak Ends With 3-2 Loss At Rice
11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 7, 2008
HOUSTON, Texas -- Ivana Bozic led five Blazers in double-figure kills with 17 Friday, but the UAB volleyball team suffered a 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 26-28, 25-22, 15-10) defeat on the road at Rice in a match that lasted nearly two and a half hours.
The loss snapped UAB's school-record winning streak at 16 matches. The Blazers suffered their first defeat since Sept. 18 but still own an overall record of 22-4 and a mark of 12-2 in Conference USA contests. With its win, Rice improved to 20-5 overall and 11-3 in league play.
Friday's loss was the first of the season for UAB in a five-set match. The Blazers are now 6-1 in matches that go the distance.
"Rice is a very good team, and we are two very opposite teams, which makes it difficult to play against them," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "Not only are they a great defensive team, but they are great offensively, as well."
In the fifth set against Rice, UAB fell behind 5-2 and was never able to even things up. The Blazers fought to within one point at 9-8 on a kill from Bozic and again at 10-9 on a kill from Lilly Domingos. But that was as close as UAB could get. Rice rattled off four straight points to take a 14-9 advantage. And after an attack error on their first match point, the Owls got an error from the Blazers on their second try to seal the win.
In addition to her 17 kills, Bozic also led UAB with 25 digs on the way to her 15th double-double of the season and her fifth in the past six matches. Aleksandra Vujovic followed Bozic with 22 digs, and MacKenzie Wilson added 15.
Joining Bozic in double-digit kills for UAB were Domingos and Andrea Lalic with 12 each, Casey Dent with 11 and Savannah Pegg with 10. Nevena Stefanov posted her second straight match with 54 assists for the Blazers.
UAB faced a tough Rice defense that tallied 18 blocks and 109 digs as a team. Natalie Bogan led the way with seven blocks for the Owls, while Tracey Lam recorded a match-best 29 digs. Offensively, Karyn Morgan led Rice with 26 kills, and Meredith Schamun handed out 56 assists.
After dropping the first set, 25-20, UAB overcame deficits in both the second and third sets to fight back and grab the lead. The Blazers trailed 19-14 in the second set before rallying for a 25-23 win. In the third frame, the Blazers overcame an early 8-2 deficit and finally evened the score at 21-21. They eventually won the set, 28-26.
But UAB couldn't keep the momentum going in the fourth. The Blazers held various leads through the middle of the set, but Rice pulled through for a 25-22 win to set the stage for the decisive fifth frame.
"I think both teams brought out the best in each other tonight," Messersmith said. "We had some opportunities, especially in that fourth set, and we didn't capitalize on them. But I'm proud of our kids. They fought hard and never gave up. We just have to give a lot of credit to Rice."
UAB continues its weekend road trip Sunday with another Conference USA battle. The Blazers will play at 1 p.m. CT Sunday at Houston.
