UAB Volleyball Team: Blazer Volleyball Begins Conference Play At Home Against SMU
UAB to play at Bartow for first time after four weeks on road
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Sept. 23, 2010)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- After 12 straight matches away from home to open the season, the UAB volleyball team hosts its first action at Bartow Arena this weekend with two matches against SMU.
The teams will meet Friday at 7 p.m. in the Conference USA opener for both squads and then play again Saturday at 7 p.m. All-Access streaming video and Gametracker live stats will be available for both matches at uabsports.com.
All kids ages 12 and under will receive free admission to Friday's match. For Saturday's contest, the athletic department is partnering with UAB Recycling, and fans who bring a glass, plastic (No. 1 or 2) or paper item to be recycled will be admitted for free.
UAB (3-9) is looking to bounce back from a tough 0-3 weekend against quality competition at the TCU Nike Invitational. The Blazers dropped a pair of 3-0 decisions to Ohio and TCU last Friday before closing the event with a 3-2 loss to UTSA on Saturday.
Libero Heather Thomas turned in another strong weekend, earning all-tournament honors at the TCU event. Thomas, who ranks second in Conference USA with a 5.34 digs-per-set average, has managed at least 17 digs in each of the past nine matches for UAB.
Offensively, Jordan McDonald paces the Blazers with 2.98 kills per set with Sam Serley close behind at 2.84. Michelle Uzoh leads the team in attack percentage at .364.
SMU (8-3) was off last weekend but returned to the court Tuesday with a 3-1 win at TCU in its non-conference finale. The Mustangs have split their past six matches evenly after opening the season at 5-0.
SMU is the top blocking team in Conference USA, led by Courtney Manning's 1.24 blocks per set. The Mustangs are holding their opponents to a .177 attack percentage. Offensively, Dana Powell leads SMU with 3.31 kills per frame.
Friday's meeting with be the seventh all-time between the teams with SMU holding a 4-2 advantage. The Mustangs earned the 3-0 win in Dallas last year in the teams' only meeting of 2009.
-- CALL US UAB --
