The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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Florida
UAB Drops Season Opener At Florida, 3-1
8/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 29, 2008
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The UAB volleyball team took a set from the nation's eighth-ranked team on the road Friday in its season opener. At the Aquafina Invitational, the Blazers pushed host Florida for awhile but eventually fell, 3-1 (25-21, 26-28, 25-16, 25-17).
Senior setter Nevena Stefanov posted a match-high 30 assists and also added 10 digs for a double-double. Junior outside hitter Savannah Pegg paced UAB with 10 kills, and senior outside hitter Ivana Bozic added eight in addition to a team-high 12 digs.
"We had our chances tonight," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "We made too many unforced errors, but we also did a lot of good things and a lot of encouraging things."
The Blazers (0-1) are back in action Saturday at Florida's Stephen C. O'Connell Center, taking on Mid-American Conference opponent Western Michigan at 5 p.m. CT. Western Michigan won its season-opener, 3-0, Friday over Pacific in the first match of the day at the Aquafina Invitational.
For the first two sets Friday, UAB hung right in with perennial power Florida, which entered the season ranked No. 8 in both the CBS College Sports/AVCA and Molten/Volleyball Magazine polls.
In the opening set, Florida built an early 13-5 lead, but UAB chipped away to make things close. A kill from senior Casey Dent and a pair of service aces from senior Aleksandra Vujovic ignited a run that saw the Blazers tally seven of the next eight points to climb within two at 14-12. UAB again trailed by just two at 17-15, 19-17 and 20-18 before cutting the lead to one at 20-19 on a block from Dent and junior Patty Paniagua. Florida, though, responded with five of the next seven points to take the set, 25-21.
Paniagua finished the night with six blocks, while senior Lilly Domingos notched a team-high seven.
"We blocked really well, and that kept us close," Messersmith said. "We had some problems passing the ball tonight, but the errors we made are all correctable things, and we'll fix those and get better."
The second set was close throughout. Neither team was able to build a lead of larger than two points until, leading 14-13, UAB rattled off three straight points to grab a 17-13 advantage. Florida, however, quickly rebounded with four straight points to even the score at 17-17. From there, the teams traded the lead back-and forth until a 26-26 tie. The Blazers then put set away with two straight points. Paniagua and Stefanov combined on a block to give UAB a one-point edge, and then a Florida attack error gave the Blazers the set, 28-26.
In the next two sets, UAB played Florida close in the early going, but the Gators pulled away at the end of each set.
The Gators grabbed the third set to take a two sets to one lead. The set was tight until midway through. Florida held a slim 16-14 lead before taking nine of the next 11 points for a 25-16 win.
Florida then closed out the match in similar fashion in the fourth set, turning a close 14-13 advantage into a 25-17 win to seal the match.
Florida's Kristy Jaeckel led all players in the match with 15 kills, and teammate Kelly Murphy was close behind with 13.
"We'll regroup and get ready to go again tomorrow," Messersmith said. "We have a really tough match against a very good team in Western Michigan."
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