Nov. 17, 2005
Box Score
Despite dropping game one, the seventh-seeded SMU volleyball team barreled from the corral to defeat UAB and advance to the quarterfinals of the 2005 Conference USA Volleyball Championship. Rachel Giubilato posted 18 kills and 20 digs to led all players in both categories and help the Ponies to a 3-1 win over No. 10 seed UAB in first round action on Thursday evening at Rice's Autry Court.
"I felt our seniors made the difference tonight," SMU head coach Lisa Seifert stated. "They kept everyone calm and focused. I was really proud of the team for sticking to the goal of winning the league championship. Even when we hit bumps in the road or the goal didn't seem realistic, they stuck by it. And that makes me as a coach have a sense of comfort."
Co-head coaches Nikola Petrovic and Ali Magner for UAB must have been proud of Blazer star Ivana Bozic, who was named to the All-Conference Freshmen Team earlier in the week. Bozic set the single-match service ace record as the rookie tallied eight. The single-match tally of eight also sets the tournament total for an individual as Louisville's Lena Ustymenko had eight spread over three matches in 2003.
Bozic was one of three Blazers to post double-doubles, while she came within two service aces of a triple-double performance. Bozic had 15 kills and 17 digs. Isabel Oquendo had 11 kills and 12 digs, and Alesksandra Vujovic had 11 kills and just as many digs.
For the Mustangs, Guibilato and three teammates tabbed double-digit kill records in the winning effort. Ashley Zener, Kelly Larkan and Natalie Peters each tallied 10 apiece.
"Kelly (Larkan) does an extremely good job of filling in wherever she is needed," Seifert added. "Our goal was to get back to our original defensive form and she definitely helped."
Madison Hill led the Ponies in assists with 43.
SMU advances in its first Conference USA Championship to the quarterfinals and will face No. 2 Houston in a Friday, 8 p.m. contest. The contest can be watched LIVE on C-USA's All-Access web-site.
A complete schedule of the 2005 Conference USA Volleyball Championship follows:
2005 C-USA VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Thursday, November 17, 2005: Match 1 - (9) UCF def. (8) Memphis, 3-1 (22-30, 30-24, 30-24, 30-24) Match 2 - (5) East Carolina def. (12) Southern Miss, 3-0 (30-21, 32-30, 30-27) Match 3 - (11) Tulane def. (6) Rice, 3-2 (31-33, 30-23, 30-27, 18-30, 15-13) Match 4 - (7) SMU def. (10) UAB, 3-1 (27-30, 30-28, 30-26, 30-21)
Friday, November 18, 2005 (Quarterfinals): Match 5 - (1) Marshall vs. UCF, 1 p.m. Match 6 - (4) UTEP vs. East Carolina, 3 p.m. Match 7 - (3) Tulsa vs. Tulane, 6 p.m. Match 8 - (2) Houston vs. SMU, 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 19, 2005 (Semifinals): Match 9 - Winner of Match 5 vs. Winner of Match 6, 5 p.m. Match 10 - Winner of Match 7 vs. Winner of Match 8, 7 p.m.
Sunday, November 20, 2005 (Championship): Match 11 - Championship Match (CSTV), 4 p.m.
All Times Central. All matches will be played at Autry Court, Houston, Texas.
