Blazers' volleyball tames UTEP

Marlon Glenn, Sports Writer
Published On: 10/ 6/2008

Fans witnessed a complete drubbing at the expense of Texas El Paso Friday night at Bartow Arena as the Blazers swept the Miners right out of town in a match that lasted one hour and 15 minutes.

“We built up our confidence this weekend with tough matches. Tennessee State prepared us for tonight’s win,” said senior outside hitter Ivana Bozic.

Every conference game is important for the Blazers, who haven’t lost since their loss to Memphis.

“Every win is equally important. You can’t risk to lose any match. Every game is important,” said senior setter Nevena Stefanov.

The game started off on a good note for UAB as Bozic and senior setters Casey Dent and Lily Domingos put UAB up 3-1 with three kills. UTEP looked out of synch as the Blazers beat them in every way possible in the first set.

The Miners called a couple of timeouts to slow down the hot Blazers, but to no avail. UAB ended the first set on a 12-1 run as the Blazers won handily 25-6.

UTEP showed signs of life in the second set, and led 9-8 at one point. However, UAB won five consecutive points to jump out to a 13-9 lead. UAB turned on the heat and extended their lead to 19-13 before UTEP burned a time-out.
The timeout didn’t do the trick as the Blazers got two points, including a Dent kill to lead 21-13. UTEP called another timeout out of sheer desperation. The Blazers took four out of the set’s final five points to cruise to an easy 25-14 win.
“After blowing them out in the first set, we got too relaxed. We made a few errors, but we came back and beat them,” said Bozic.

UTEP went into halftime with their heads down, but to their credit, played their best in the final set of the night.

UTEP lead 14-12 midway through and looked as if they might extend the match to a fourth set, but the Blazers would have none of it. UAB took an 18-16 lead and looked to run away with the third set, but UTEP took a timeout that slowed UAB’s progress.

UTEP took the next couple of points to tie the game 18 all until a kill by Dent put UAB up 19-18. The Miners’ next pair of points forced Coach Kerry Messersmith to burn a timeout as UTEP led 20-19.

UAB took the game’s final six points as they dominated the Miners. Dent and Stefanov came up with a huge block to tie the game 20 all immediately after the timeout. UAB took the next two points including a double touch violation against the Miners to put them up 22-20.

The Miners called one final timeout, but it wasn’t meant to be as Dent came up with a kill to put the Blazers up 23-20. UTEP hit a shot long to put the Blazers up 24-20. Bozic brought home the win as her kill clinched the game 25-20 for the Blazers.

“We made too many errors in the third game,” said Bozic. “Coach switched up the lineup. People were nervous and it happens. The seniors were there to calm them down, but the win is the only thing that matters.”

The Miners looked off kilter as the Blazers scorched them in their brief meeting.

“We had a goal to serve tough and lay it out on the floor,” said Dent. “Our serve was our key factor, and we served well. Our defense was scrappy, and we kept them out of a rhythm.”

Sophomore setter Patty Jarmoc’s 17 assists and junior outside hitter Amy Sanders’ 17 digs and eight kills were the only bright spots in an obviously disappointing night for the Miners.

UAB’s seniors led the Blazers in the win. Stefanov recorded a game high 38 assists and tallied five digs in Friday night’s blowout. Bozic recorder her eighth double-double of the season with team highs of 12 digs and 10 kills.
Senior middle blocker Lily Domingos led the team with a .857 hitting percentage and chalked up six kills. Senior outside hitter Aleksandra Vujovic chipped in with 11 digs. Freshman libero Heather Thomas got in on the action with 12 digs.

“On the floor, the seniors played a vital role because we have broad experiences that lead the team and will hopefully lead through the end of the season. We’re responsible for ourselves, the team and the role of young players,” said Bozic.

Dent agreed with her teammate concerning the importance of the team’s senior leadership.

“All of the seniors work well together because we compliment each other. Our key role is how we perform. We all need to play well together; it’s important,” said Dent.

The team definitely took the loss to Memphis to heart and learned valuable lessons from it.

“It was a warning sign that if we weren’t prepared, it would be the same outcome. We need the green light to get focused for every match, especially at home,” said Stefanov.

With the win, the Blazers improve to 13-3 with a 3-1 conference record while UTEP falls to 5-11 with a 1-3 conference record.

UAB will hit the road for their next two games, but will be back on Southside to begin a six-game home stand beginning with a match against Southern Miss on Oct. 24.
 

Email: mjglenn@uab.edu