The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Memphis
UAB Outlasts Memphis In Five-Game Thriller
10/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 9, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB volleyball team came back for a thrilling, 3-2 victory over Memphis on Sunday afternoon at Bartow Arena, avenging its loss suffered at Memphis on Friday. In capturing their first home conference match of the season, the Blazers improve to 11-3 overall and 2-2 in Conference USA while the Tigers fall to 11-8 overall and 3-1 in league play.
"Today's win was all about teamwork," said UAB co-interim head coach Nikola Petrovic. "The girls did a great job of fighting all the way through the match."
The Blazers were led by a handful of freshmen in the match, including Aleksandra Vujovic who racked up a 23-kill, 15-dig double-double performance. Ivana Bozic led all players with 26 kills while Nevena Stefanov's 52 assists were a match-high. Nancy Nellans had 13 kills and 16 digs for Memphis in the losing effort.
UAB opened up the match strong, taking advantage of five service aces in the opening game's first 14 points. The Blazers got four kills each from Bozic and Vujovic en route to a 30-26 game one victory.
But the Tigers bounced right back, capturing both game two and game three by scores of 30-27. Staring at a possible defeat, UAB rallied and rebuilt its momentum in game four. Eight combined kills from Vujovic and Bozic allowed the Blazers to build a 13-9 lead before Memphis called its first timeout. The Tigers would fight back, cutting the UAB lead to 21-20. But UAB took advantage of two consecutive Vujovic service aces and a kill by Bozic on game point to even the match with a 30-24 victory.
The fifth and deciding game was a back-and-forth battle. With the score tied at 3-3, three Vujovic kills along with one from Stefanov gave UAB its biggest lead at 7-4. The Tigers clawed their way back, scoring three of the next four points. With a 9-7 advantage, the Blazers then reeled off three of the game's next four points thanks to a trio of kills from Bozic. Memphis would be unable to contain that UAB momentum as the Blazers finished off the match with a 15-11 win.
UAB returns to action Friday when it hosts Marshall at 6 p.m. at Bartow Arena.
