The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Stetson
Blazers Sweep Season Opener From Stetson
9/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 2, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB volleyball team opened the 2005 season with a dominant 3-0 victory over Stetson on Friday morning in Bartow Arena. The Blazers had three players with double-digit kill performances, including freshman Ivana Bozic who recorded a match-high 17. UAB is now 1-0 on the season while the Hatters fall to 1-3.
"This is a good feeling to start with a victory," said co-interim head coach Nikola Petrovic. "We've seen a lot of improvement in the team already. We had been working on our blocking and did much better with that today along with our service reception and offensive attack. Hopefully the mistakes we made this morning can be fixed and we can improve even more for tonight."
The Blazers hit an outstanding .318 as a team during the match, compared to just .117 for Stetson. Sophomore Nicole Bowland and senior Isabel Oquendo combined for 23 kills for UAB while freshman setter Nevena Stefanov notched her first career double-double with 47 assists and a match-best 14 digs. Bozic also had 11 digs, matching Stefanov's double-double. Freshmen Amy White (10 digs), Casey Dent (7 kills, 3 block assists), Aleksandra Vujovic (2 kills, 6 digs) and sophomore Shaniquwa Cooper (7 kills, 3 block assists) also contributed for UAB in the victory.
Stetson's Rebecca Orzechowicz and DeeAnn Dempsey shared the team lead with nine kills for the Hatters. Liz Gorski, Melissa Muller, and Orzechowicz each recorded double-digit dig games.
UAB jumped out of the gate strong in game one, rolling to a 7-2 lead at the first timeout. Stetson fought their way back though, even taking a 22-21 advantage late in the contest. But Bozic, Bowland and the Blazers were too much to handle down the stretch as UAB came out on top, 30-27. Bozic finished the game with eight kills while Bowland contributed four, including the clincher on game point.
Game two looked similar to the first, with the teams going back-and-forth for most the majority of the tilt. The Hatters took a 24-21 lead thanks to a 7-2 run which forced the Blazers to call their first timeout of the match. But UAB regrouped and got two kills from Bowland and one from Oquendo, going on a 4-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead. Leading 29-27, the Blazers finished off the game when Dent and Bowland came up huge on a duo block.
The Blazers kept their momentum from the first two games, rolling to a 30-22 win in the third and final game. It was again a game of streaks with the Hatters taking a 9-8 lead early. But UAB went on a 7-2 run aided by a a Bozic service ace sandwiched between two Cooper and Oquendo duo blocks which gave their squad a 15-11 advantage. The Blazers would never relinquish that lead, winning eight of the final ten points to put the match away.
UAB will return to action on Friday evening when they host Lipscomb University in Bartow Arena at 7:00 p.m.
