The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Volleyball Heads West For Three C-USA Matches
10/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 18, 2005
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB volleyball team travels westward this week as the Blazers square off against three different conference opponents. UAB will take on Rice Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT in a match originally scheduled for Sept. 23 but postponed due to Hurricane Rita. The Blazers then face SMU Friday at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the weekend with a 2 p.m. match against Tulsa on Sunday.
UAB dropped a 3-1 decision to conference leader Marshall last Friday evening at home before rebounding with a 3-2 win over East Carolina Saturday night at Bartow Arena. Ivana Bozic (21) and Aleksandra Vujovic (20) each recorded 20-kill matches for the Blazers in the victory over the Pirates.
Bozic leads the Blazers and ranks fifth in Conference USA with 4.52 kills-per-game. Freshman setter Nevena Stefanov's 12.53 assists-per-game average is also the third-highest in the league.
Rice enters Thursday's contest with a 13-4 overall record and 4-2 mark in conference matches. The C-USA coaches selected the Owls to win the league in their preseason poll. Senior outside hitter Olaya Pazo leads Rice and ranks second in the conference with 4.97 kills-per-game, while junior Tessa Kuykendall is C-USA's third-leading blocker with 1.12 per game. The Owls have won five of the all-time six meetings against UAB.
SMU is 8-11 overall, but 4-3 in C-USA after wins over Tulane and UTEP last weekend at home. The Mustangs are 7-1 overall at home this season and are led by Natalie Peters who averages 2.97 kills-per-game and leads the league with 1.39 blocks-per-contest. UAB and SMU have never met on the volleyball court.
Tulsa has the highest overall winning percentage in the conference at 17-3, and is 4-2 in league matches. The Golden Hurricane will host Memphis on Friday evening before welcoming the Blazers on Sunday. Tulsa finds itself among the league leaders in most offensive categories, including kills where its 16.14 per-game average is tops in C-USA. The Golden Hurricane is also second in hitting percentage (.239), opponent hitting percentage (.162), assists (14.69) and service aces (2.13). Sophomore setter Julia Silva ranks fourth in the league with 12.29 assists-per-game and finds herself second only to her teammate, Renee Brooks, in hitting percentage. Brooks leads C-USA, hitting at a .408 clip, while Silva's .363 mark ranks second. Sunday's match will also mark the first ever meeting between Tulsa and the Blazers.
