Oct. 23, 2008

UAB Match Notes (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Two weeks ago, the UAB volleyball team went on the road and won a pair of Conference USA matches at Southern Miss and UCF. This weekend, the Blazers will look to repeat that success when the Golden Eagles and the Knights pay a return visit to Bartow Arena.

UAB hosts Southern Miss on Friday at 7 p.m., and UCF visits Birmingham on Sunday for a 1 p.m. contest.

Led by Collegiate Volleyball Update (CVU.com) National Player of the Week Ivana Bozic, the Blazers carry a 12-match winning streak into the Southern Miss contest. UAB is 18-3 overall and in first place in the C-USA standings with an 8-1 mark in league play.

Bozic -- who is also the reigning C-USA Offensive Player of the Week -- leads UAB offensively with 3.26 kills per set and defensively with 3.34 digs per set. She helped the Blazers to 3-0 sweeps last weekend over Tulsa and SMU.

As a team, UAB hit .401 last weekend, posting kills on 103 of its 150 points in the two matches combined. For the season, the Blazers are out-hitting their opponents .268 to .180. The team's success is starting to gain more national attention as the Blazers are receiving votes in the CBS College Sports/AVCA Coaches Poll for the third week in a row.

In Friday's contest, UAB will square off against a Southern Miss team it defeated, 3-1, Oct. 10 in Hattiesburg, Miss. Starting with that contest, the Golden Eagles have lost three of their past four matches to fall to 13-9 overall (3-6 C-USA). Southern Miss lost on the road last weekend to both Rice and Houston by 3-0 scores.

UAB's win two weeks ago improved the Blazers to 19-15 in the all-time series with Southern Miss. The Blazers have won seven straight contests in the series, dating back to the 2005 season.

Sunday, UAB meets another familiar opponent in UCF. The Blazers handed the Knights a 3-1 defeat Oct. 12 in Orlando, Fla., with first place in the C-USA standings on the line. That match was the first of four straight losses for UCF,which enters this weekend at 13-10 overall (5-4 C-USA). UCF will play Friday at Memphis before traveling to Birmingham.

UAB owns a 7-5 lead in the all-time series with the Knights. The Blazers are 6-0 against UCF since head coach Kerry Messersmith took over the program in 2006.

Fans are encouraged to come out to both matches this weekend. Friday is "Take a Kid to the Game Night," featuring $1 youth tickets with the purchase of an adult ticket.

On Sunday, the Blazers will celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Tickets will be $2 for fans wearing pink, and the first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free pink UAB t-shirt. In addition, Family Fun 4 Packs of tickets are available for $10 for Sunday's match.