The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Florida A&M
UAB Closes Regular Season With 3-0 Sweep Of FAMU
11/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 29, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Casey Dent hit for an incredible .824 percentage Saturday as the UAB volleyball team wrapped up its regular season with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-17) sweep of Florida A&M.
The Blazers improved their record to 26-7 on the season, while the Rattlers, champions of the MEAC, fell to 14-12.
UAB will now wait for tomorrow's NCAA Championship Selection Show to see if it will earn a postseason invitation. The show will air live on ESPN U at 9 p.m. CT on Sunday.
The Blazers finished in second place in a strong Conference USA with a 13-3 record and advanced to the league tournament championship match for the third year in a row. UAB also posted a school-record 16-match winning streak during the season. The Blazers' final RPI should be in the low-20s.
"We've done what we can do to receive a bid," UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. "We have a strong RPI, and Conference USA is the fifth-highest rated conference in the country.
"Our conference, as a whole, has done a great job of improving its scheduling, and that has really helped all of us. The league has positioned itself well to get more than one team into the tournament."
In Saturday's win, Dent posted 14 kills in 17 attempts as she and four other seniors played their final match at Bartow Arena. Nevena Stefanov dished out 27 assists for the Blazers, and Ivana Bozic led the team with 13 digs.
"Casey did what she has done for us all season," Messersmith said. "She took care of the ball and had an outstanding night in her last match in her home gym. I'm really excited to see Casey play so well after such an outstanding career at UAB."
The Blazers controlled the first and third set throughout. The second frame was the only one in which UAB had to overcome a significant deficit. The Blazers trailed by three at 11-8 and found themselves tied as late as 16-16, but Florida A&M started committing errors down the stretch as UAB tallied nine of the set's final 12 points and closed it out on an ace from Andrea Lalic.
For Florida A&M, Samara Ferraz led all players in the match with 15 kills. Susan Egoavil handed out 29 assists for the Rattlers, and Jovana Blazeski posted a team-best 11 digs.
UAB controlled the net with 12 total team blocks in the match. Lilly Domingos led the Blazers with six total blocks, followed by Dent and Lalic with five each.
