The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Three Blazers Named All-Conference USA Wednesday
11/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 14, 2007
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - The UAB volleyball team garnered numerous postseason honors at the 2007 Conference USA Championship Banquet Wednesday night. Highlighting the night for the Blazers was three All-Conference USA selections with junior Nevena Stefanov being named to the first-team, while senior Fernanda Domingos and junior Casey Dent were named to the second-team. Junior Lilly Domingos was named the C-USA Newcomer of the Year.
"I'm so proud of all of these girls," said UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith following the banquet. "They all had fantastic seasons and these are all well-deserved awards for them."
The Blazers' three All-Conference USA selections mark the first time in program history that three players have been named to the team in one season. It's the most players named all-conference for UAB since four Blazers were named to the All-Great Midwest Team in 1992.
Stefanov earns her first All-Conference USA honor after averaging 12.63 assists per game. She eclipsed the 4,000 career assists milestone this season and was named the Conference USA Setter of the Week three times throughout the season.
"I've been more and more impressed with Nevena all season long," Messersmith said. "She has distributed the ball so well after bouncing back from an early-season injury and she is the perfect person to be running our offense."
Fernanda, who was a Preseason All-Conference USA selection prior to this season, averaged 3.20 kills during the regular season and was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week following a 27-kill performance in the team's win at Alabama on Aug. 31. This was her first All-Conference USA accolade.
Dent, who was also named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team Wednesday night, led the Blazers with a .333 hitting percentage, while averaging 2.96 kills per game. Her academic honor was the second in two weeks for the Helena, Ala. native who was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Team last week. Dent was also voted to the C-USA All-Academic Team in 2006.
"Fernanda is a very mature player and had another great year for us so it's great to see her honored," Messersmith said. "Casey also had a fantastic year, both athletically and academically. She is a model student-athlete and is just a great kid and I'm really proud of her."
Lilly garners Newcomer of the Year honors after her older sister, Fernanda, won the award last season. For the regular season, Lilly led the team and ranked 10th in Conference USA with 1.04 blocks per game, in addition to averaging 1.97 kills per game.
The Blazers will begin play at the Conference USA Tournament on Friday at 2:00 p.m. at the Cam Henderson Center against the winner of Thursday's Houston-Southern Miss match.
