The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
UCF
Volleyball Continues To Roll With 3-1 Win At UCF
10/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 12, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The UAB volleyball team opened Sunday's match at UCF in dominating fashion and closed the contest the same way. In a matchup of the top two teams in the Conference USA standings, the Blazers managed a 3-1 (25-13, 24-26, 25-23, 25-10) victory over the Knights.
Both teams entered the contest with matching 5-1 records in conference play, and, with the win, UAB takes over sole possession of first place at 6-1. The Blazers have now won 10 matches in a row to improve their overall record to 16-3.
"I'm really proud of all of our girls for the way we played this weekend," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "Any time you can go on the road and come home with two wins is obviously a big plus."
Senior setter Nevena Stefanov led all players with a season-high 57 assists. Stefanov has now posted at least 50 assists in five of her past seven matches.
Andrea Lalic led four Blazers in double-digit kills with 16, followed by Casey Dent with 15, Ivana Bozic with 13 and Lilly Domingos with 12. Domingos also recorded a season-high eight blocks, giving her 16 over the Blazers' two matches this weekend. As a team, UAB posted a .394 attack percentage for the match, led by Dent, who notched a .519 percentage.
UAB wasted no time getting started as the Blazers jumped out to a quick lead in the opening set. UAB built an early 9-5 lead and then rattled off five straight points to extend its advantage to 14-5. From there, UAB maintained a lead of at least seven points for the remainder of the set.
"That first set definitely set the tone for the match," Messersmith said. "We couldn't have played any better offensively in that first set, and I was also very pleased with our defense. UCF has a good team. They have been playing very well, so it says a lot for our team to come in here and get a win."
The middle two sets of the match were close battles. UCF pulled out a back-and-forth second set to even the match, but UAB returned the favor, winning a tight third set to regain a one-set lead.
The Blazers then finished the day off the same way they started. Kills from Domingos, Lalic and Jordan McDonald combined with a pair of UCF errors to give UAB a 5-0 lead in the fourth.
After the Knights managed their first point on a Blazer error, UAB ran off seven straight points on two more kills from Lalic, two from Dent, one from McDonald and two UCF errors, opening up a 12-1 advantage. The Blazers continued to cruise and led by as many 18 points at 22-4 before a late UCF run closed the final gap.
For UAB, Bozic added a match-best 17 digs to her 13 kills for her 10th double-double of the season. Aleksandra Vujovic was also in double-figure digs for the Blazers with 14.
UAB now returns home for six matches in a row. The Blazers kick off that stretch Friday with a 7 p.m. C-USA contest against Tulsa at Bartow Arena.
