Box Score

Nov. 18, 2006

In Saturday's first semifinal match of the 2006 Conference USA Volleyball Championship in Houston, Texas, No. 5 UAB kept their title hopes alive with their second upset in as many days with a 3-1 (30-24, 27-30, 30-24, 30-23) win over No. 1 Tulsa. UAB extended its league-best winning streak to 12 matches with the win and is making its first championship match appearance in program history. UAB had not won a championship match since 1999 coming into the tournament.

Shaniquwa Cooper was a force up front for the Blazers sending back 15 blocks to establish a new C-USA Championship record for total blocks. All 15 were block assists, which is also a new championship record. She broke the mark that was set just yesterday by Erin Rice from Houston in the Cougars' five-game win over Marshall. Cooper added seven kills and hit .636 for the match. Ivana Bozic notched a team-high 18 kills to go along with 17 digs for her 21st double-double on the year.

Newcomer of the Year Fernanda Domingos also had double-digit kills for UAB with 13 and chipped in with eight blocks. Aleksandra Vujovic was solid for the Blazers as well tallying 13 digs and adding eight kills. Nevena Stefanov led all players with 50 assists and Brianna Galvin totaled a match-high 20 digs. Galvin moved up to seventh all-time in career digs at UAB with her digs total.

Tulsa's Kassiana Urnau totaled a match-high 20 kills and added 18 digs for a double-double, her 22nd. Fabiola Nepomuceno was the only other TU player with double-digit kills, notching 11 and adding five blocks and two digs. Setter of the Year Julia Silva dished out 48 assists and registered 14 kills for her 20th double-double. Libero Kelsey Wood chipped in 13 digs in the loss.

UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith, who picked up her 500th career win on the night, said that once again her team played with great emotion.

"This was a great win for us against a great team," Messersmith said. "I couldn't be happier with my team. They played with a lot of heart and emotion tonight and we will need that kind of energy in the championship match."

UAB improves to 26-9 with the win, the most for the program since 1991. Tulsa ends its regular season at 27-7.