The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Volleyball Ready For Weekend At TCU Nike Invitational
9/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 16, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB volleyball team heads West this weekend to close out the non-conference portion of its schedule with another three-match tournament at the TCU Nike Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Blazers' second match of the event -- Friday at 7 p.m. against host TCU -- will be televised live on the Mountain West Sports Network (The Mtn.).
UAB opens play earlier on Friday at 11 a.m. against Ohio and closes the tournament a day later with an 11 a.m. Saturday contest against UTSA. Gametracker live stats for all matches will be available at uabsports.com.
The Blazers (3-6) will be playing their fourth straight weekend away from home and their fourth against quality competition. Ohio (6-4) and TCU (6-4) each finished last year high in the RPI at No. 26 and No. 34, respectively, and both teams played in the 2009 NCAA tournament. UTSA (5-6) enters the weekend with wins in three of its past four matches.
After dropping its first two matches last weekend, UAB finished strong at the Middle Tennessee Invitational with a 3-2 win over Arkansas last Friday. Sam Serley recorded a career-high 23 kills, including seven in the final frame, as the Blazers overcame a two-sets-to-one deficit. Michelle Uzoh (19), Jordan McDonald (17) and Thais Soares (9) also had career-highs in kills, while setter Alison Woods managed a career-best 64 assists.
Serley, a middle blocker, paces the UAB attack with 3.09 kills per set and 0.82 blocks per set. Uzoh, a fellow middle, missed the opening weekend due to injury but has bounced back strong to lead the team with a .385 attack percentage over the past six matches. Heather Thomas, the UAB libero, leads Conference USA with 5.42 digs per set.
Ohio is coming off a 1-2 performance at its own Baymont Inn & Suites Invitational, while TCU won three matches to claim the Rutgers Invitational last weekend. UTSA won two out of three matches at its own UTSA Classic.
