The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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Georgia
UAB Volleyball Comes up Short Against Georgia
8/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2006
ATHENS, Ga. - The UAB volleyball team lost a competitive season opening match to SEC foe Georgia, 3-1 (27-30, 30-27, 30-18, 30-28), Friday night at the Georgia Invitational in Athens, Ga. Three Blazers posted double-doubles against the Bulldogs, with sophomore outside hitter Ivana Bozic leading the way with 23 kills and 13 digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Aleksandra Vujovic had 19 kills, seven of which came in the fourth game, and 14 digs, while junior outside hitter Fernanda Domingos had 12 kills and 12 digs in her first career game with the Blazers. Sophomore setter Nevena Stefanov led the team in assists with 53 and Brianna Galvin led the squad in digs with 17.
First-year head coach Kerry Messersmith was pleased with her teams performance against Georgia and believes the team can come away from the match knowing that they did a number of things very well.
"There were a lot of positives out there tonight," Messersmith said. "We had three players with double-doubles which is great and our back row defense played very well. We hope to take those positives into tomorrow's matches against Coastal Carolina and Morehead State."
UAB never trailed in the opening game, as it distanced itself from the Bulldogs with Bozic putting away a kill from Stefanov to open up a 29-23 lead. The Bulldogs tried to sneak back into the game, but had its comeback hopes smashed when Domingos recorded a kill off a Stefanov assist.
The Blazers maintained their momentum heading into the second game, getting out to a 4-0 early lead when Vujovic put away a kill from Stefanov. UAB held on to the slight advantage through the early stages of the game until Georgia took its first lead of the match at 17-16, after an attack error by Bozic, who had an impressive hitting percentage of .346 for the match. The Bulldogs went on to take a 28-21 lead before the Blazers clawed their way back, narrowing the gap to 29-27 when sophomore middle blocker Casey Dent and Stefanov blocked Renee Johnson. UGA then closed out the set, 30-27, on an Anjelica Partridge kill.
Georgia took a slight lead early in the pivotal third game, but UAB stayed close by a narrow margin as the teams exchanged points until Georgia's Simon Speed registered back-to-back kills to open up a 15-10 lead. UGA continued to pull away, winning the third game, 30-18, and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Three straight kills by Vujovic helped the Blazers take a 9-7 lead in the fourth game. UAB would eventually open up an 18-13 lead after a Dent kill from Stefanov. Late in the game, Georgia played its way back into the mix and took a 27-26 lead when Partridge recorded another of her 15 kills. UAB was quick to respond, as kills by Stefanov and Bozic tied the game at 28-28. With the score knotted up, the Bulldogs closed out the match when Brooke Peugh gave UGA a one-point lead with a kill and Maria Taylor recorded a service ace to give Georgia the four-game victory, 3-1.
"We came out with a lot of excitement and energy and emotion," Messersmith said. "We played really hard but just let it get away from us in the second and third, but we were able to come back and play strong in the fourth so that was very positive."
UAB, 0-1, will play its final two games at the invitational on Saturday when it takes on Coastal Carolina at 10 a.m. and Morehead State at 5 p.m.
