Nov. 17, 2007

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - The defending Conference USA Tournament champion UAB Blazers came from behind to upend second-seeded Tulane, 3-1 (23-30, 30-26, 30-26, 30-16), on Saturday to earn a return trip to the C-USA Tournament championship match thanks to stellar performances from sisters Fernanda and Lilly Domingos. Fernanda finished with 21 kills on .421 hitting, while Lilly totaled 14 kills on .700 hitting to go along with five blocks.

UAB advances to Sunday's championship match against the winner of Marshall and Tulsa. The championship match will air live on CSTV at 6:00 p.m. ET.

UAB improves to 24-8 with the win, while Tulane drops to 27-6 after being eliminated from the tournament by UAB for the second straight year.

"All I can say is wow," said UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith. "There aren't words to describe how proud I am of these girls. Tulane came out playing very well today and our girls hung in there and kept playing better and better as the match moved along. This is a huge win for us against a very good team that may still be an NCAA Tournament team."

Tulane was 23-0 this season when winning game one before the Blazers rebounded from their game one loss to beat the Green Wave on Saturday.

UAB hit a combined .322 for the match behind another strong outing for junior setter Nevena Stefanov who moved up to 12th place all-time in Conference USA in career assists with her 58 helpers Saturday.

Sophomore Andrea Lalic put down 13 kills on .333 hitting against the Green Wave, while junior Casey Dent also finished in double-figures in kills with 12.

Defensively, Fernanda's 11 digs led UAB and marked her third double-double of the season. Junior Aleksandra Vujovic finished with 10 digs, while senior Brianna Galvin had nine digs to post the second highest single-season digs total in school history (477).

Senior Shaniquwa Cooper led UAB in blocks with six to help the team out-block the Green Wave, 13-10.

Tulane was paced by Sara Radosevic who finished with 25 kills and eight digs, while Ksenija Vlaskovic landed 16 kills.

The Blazers fell behind early in game one, trailing by as many as 12 before coming back to pull within four, 25-21, following an ace by Galvin. That would be as close as the Blazers could get in game one as the Green Wave pulled away for a 30-23 victory on a Radosevic kill.

Lilly led the Blazers in the opening game with six kills on six attempts. Tulane hit an impressive .410 in game one, while UAB was also strong, combining to hit .355.

After trailing throughout the early stages of game two, UAB came back to take its first lead of the match, 18-17, when Dent and Cooper blocked an attack attempt by Bridget Wells. UAB continued to roll and eventually capped off a six-point run to take a 21-17 lead on a Radosevic attack error.

Later, a kill from beyond the 10-foot line by Fernanda gave UAB a 27-24 edge and then the Blazers went on to close out the game, 30-26, on a service ace by Stefanov.

UAB took the initial lead in game three before a seven-point Tulane run gave the Green Wave a 14-9 advantage. The Blazers withstood the Tulane charge and tied the game, 17-17, on a service ace by Lilly and then a few points later, a Dent kill helped UAB regain the lead, 19-18.

The Blazers wouldn't look back from there, eventually earning a game point at 29-25 following a Dent kill and then after Tulane fought off one point, Fernanda landed a kill down the line to give UAB a 30-26 victory.

One game away from making a return trip to the C-USA Tournament championship match, UAB surged to a 13-5 lead on a kill by Lalic in game four. The Blazers continued to add to their lead, taking 20-10 lead on Fernanda's 21st kill of the match.

Later, a block by Cooper and Stefanov gave UAB game point at 29-15 and then another Dent kill closed out the game, 30-16, and the match, 3-1.

UAB will take on the winner of Saturday night's second semifinal between top-seeded Marshall and fourth-seeded Tulsa on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. ET. The match will air live on CSTV.