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Lincoln, Neb. ? Ivana Bozic had 16 kills and 14 digs to lead UAB to its first NCAA Tournament victory in program history, as the Blazers swept past the Missouri State Bears, 25-17, 25-21, 25-17, in Friday’s first-round match at the Nebraska Coliseum.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
UAB improved to 27-7 with the victory and the Blazers advanced to Saturday’s 5 p.m. second round match against either fourth-seeded Nebraska or Liberty. After advancing to the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament, Missouri State saw its season end in the tournament’s first round for the third time in four seasons. The Bears, which earned an automatic bid from the Missouri Valley Conference, finished the season with a 23-13 record.
In set one, UAB got off to a quick start and never looked back. The Blazers forced an early Missouri State timeout after UAB put down six kills on their first six swings en route to building a 7-2 lead. MissouriState continued to trail by at least five until a Bear block closed the gap to 20-16. UAB responded with four straight points and captured the first set on a kill by Bozic. UAB hit .394 in the first set, as Bozic had seven kills on .583 hitting and Andrea Lalic added six kills on 10 swings.
After UAB led for the entire first set, set two featured seven ties and three lead changes. MissouriState led throughout the early stages, until UAB scored three straight points to grab its first advantage at 11-9. From there, neither team led by more than two until UAB scored three straight points to take a 19-16 lead and force a MissouriState timeout. The Blazers built the lead to five and took a 2-0 advantage on Lalic’s ace on set point. Bozic added seven more kills on 10 swings in the second set.
The third set was back-and-forth early, before the Blazers gained control. UAB led 9-8 before four straight MissouriState errors and a kill by Lalic gave the Blazers five straight points. UAB led by at least four the rest of the way and closed out the sweep with a 25-17 win.
In addition to Bozic’s double-double, Lalic added 12 kills on only 24 swings for UAB. Behind the efficiency of their two outside hitters, the Blazers hit .337 on the match, compared to just .186 for MissouriState. Cara Hackmann paced the Bears with 14 digs and nine kills, but she also had eight errors.