The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
TULSA
UAB Volleyball Unable to Overcome First Place Tulsa on Sunday
10/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 15, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB volleyball was handed a 3-0 (30-23, 30-23, 30-20) defeat by Conference USA front-runner Tulsa on Sunday in Bartow Arena. Sophomore setter Nevena Stefanov finished with 19 assists against the Golden Hurricane to move her up to seventh place all-time on the school's career assists chart with 2,296 career helpers.
The Blazers drop to 14-9 (2-6 C-USA), while Tulsa will hold onto its lead in Conference USA as it improves to 20-5 (7-2 C-USA).
Junior libero Brianna Galvin had a match-high 14 digs against the Golden Hurricane, while freshman setter Aley Tallman finished with nine kills, nine assists and five digs. Junior outside hitter Fernanda Domingos had seven kills on the afternoon and junior middle blocker Shaniquwa Cooper had five kills on .444 hitting.
Tulsa was led by setter Julia Silva who had 32 assists, nine digs, seven kills and five block assists. Amy Meyer finished with a match-high 12 kills, while Fabiola Nepomuceno finished with 10 put aways.
UAB jumped out to an early lead in game one against the Golden Hurricane when a Galvin service ace made it 5-2. Continuing to cling on to its lead, UAB went up 11-9 on a Bozic kill but then surrendered the lead when Tulsa rallied to win eight of the next nine points to take a 17-12 lead.
Refusing to go away, the Blazers inched their way back in to the first game when a kill by Cooper, followed by an attack error on Tulsa, brought UAB to within one, 21-20. Still trailing by one after another Cooper kill, UAB saw Tulsa make another run, winning eight of the final 10 points in the game to take a 30-23 victory.
Game two was neck-and-neck most of the way with the Blazers appearing to be the first to make a move, taking a 16-13 lead following an attack error on Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane was quick to respond and came back to take the lead, 17-16, on a kill by Meyer. With the Blazers trailing by one, 22-21, Tulsa again made a final push, similar to in game one, as it rallied to win eight of the final 10 points to take another 30-23 victory.
Leading 2-0 in the match, Tulsa went up early in game three and would not look back as it played to a 30-20 victory in game two after Silva closed out the match with her seventh kill of the day.
UAB will be back on the court when it plays its final non-conference match of the season against Mississippi Valley State in Bartow Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Blazers will also host a pair of C-USA matches this next week as Southern Miss and UCF come to town on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
