UAB Opens 40th Season at the Cowtown Classic

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB volleyball team opens the 2018 season in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday at the Cowtown Classic hosted by TCU. Match number one of the new season is against the Horned Frogs on Friday at 11 a.m at the University Recreation Center.

The tournament continues on Saturday with the Blazers playing Southern Illinois at Edwardsville at 11 a.m. before taking on Wisconsin-Green Bay at 2 p.m.

UAB begins its 40th season of competition under the guidance of first-year head coach Amy Pauly. Coming to Birmingham after six successful seasons as the associate head coach at Villanova, Pauly brings a fresh look to the UAB volleyball program.

"I am excited to get this team on the court and turn them loose," Pauly said. "They have worked hard all through camp and everyone is ready to go out and show what we can really do."

The Green and Gold return 12 players from last year's squad, including starters Victoria Young, Emily Martinez and Shelby Holderfield. Martinez ranked fourth in Conference USA a year ago in digs per set with 3.78.

Young returns as the leader in kills (146), aces (24) and blocks (89), while Holderfield, who took over as the starting setter midway through the 2017 season, racked up 693 assists and averaged 7.7 assists per set.

Broadcast Info

UAB's match against TCU on Friday will be shown live on Fox Sports Southwest beginning at 11 a.m. with Chuck LaMendola (Play-by-Play) and Alexia Heist (Color) on the call. The remaining two matches can be followed along using the live stats link posted on the UAB volleyball schedule page or by following (@uab_vb) on Twitter and Instagram.

Series History

UAB vs. TCU: TCU leads 7-1
UAB vs. UW-Green Bay: UAB leads 1-0
UAB vs. SIUE: First Meeting

Need to Know

UAB plays its first 16 games of the season on the road with only one game inside the state of Alabama.
The Blazers boast three players from the state of Texas with Martinez coming from Comfort, Texas, Abby Carlile from Southlake, Texas and Brianna Muller hailing from San Antonio, Texas.
This is the first of two trips to the state of Texas for UAB as they will return to play conference foe Rice on Nov. 4.
UAB will face five Texas based schools in 2018 beginning with TCU on Friday. The Blazers then host UTEP on Oct. 5, UTSA on Oct. 7 and North Texas on Oct. 21 before closing out with Rice in Houston.

Up Next

UAB will travel to Martin, Tenn. to play in the Skyhawk Invitational hosted by UT-Martin. The Blazers will face off against Central Arkansas, Florida A&M, UT-Martin and Memphis.

UAB Opens 40th Season at the Cowtown Classic

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Players Mentioned

Abby Carlile

Shelby Holderfield

Emily Martinez

Brianna Muller

Victoria Young

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics