The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Home For Six Straight Starting Friday
10/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 16, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB volleyball team kicks off a stretch of six consecutive home matches this weekend with a pair of Conference USA contests at Bartow Arena.
The Blazers play host to Tulsa on Friday at 7 p.m. CT and then return to action Sunday at Noon CT against SMU.
UAB (16-3, 6-1 C-USA) enters the weekend riding a 10-match winning streak and coming off a pair of strong road victories. The Blazers defeated Southern Miss and UCF last weekend, both by 3-1 scores, to take over sole possession of first place in the C-USA standings. UAB is a half game ahead of Tulane and owns a head-to-head win against the Green Wave.
Setter Nevena Stefanov and middle blocker Lilly Domingos turned in strong performances last weekend for UAB and were rewarded Monday with weekly awards from the C-USA office. Stefanov, the conference setter of the week, handed out 12.6 assists per set in the two wins and totaled a season-best 57 helpers in the victory at UCF. Domingos, the league's defensive player of the week, posted eight blocks in both Blazer wins.
Friday's opponent, Tulsa, is 17-5 overall this season and 4-3 in conference play. The Golden Hurricane split two league matches last weekend, falling 3-1 at Tulane and rebounding to defeat UTEP, 3-1.
UAB and Tulsa have met five times, with the Golden Hurricane holding a slight 3-2 advantage in the all-time series. UAB defeated Tulane, 3-0, last year in a regular season matchup, but the Golden Hurricane returned the favor with a 3-2 victory in the C-USA Tournament.
In Sunday's match, the Blazers face an SMU team that enters the weekend at 11-10 overall and 3-4 in the league. The Mustangs also split two matches last weekend, earning a 3-2 win over UTEP and falling to Tulane, 3-0. SMU plays Friday at Memphis before traveling to Birmingham.
UAB and SMU have played just four times, and the Blazers trail the all-time series, 3-1. UAB picked up its first win over the Mustangs last season with a 3-0 sweep in Dallas.
This weekend, the Blazers will look to continue their recent success, which has started to garner national recognition. UAB is receiving votes in the CBS College Sports/AVCA Coaches Poll for the second straight week, and the Blazers are holding steady at No. 38 in the most recent RPI, released Monday by the NCAA.
