The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
North Texas
Volleyball Prepares For Lone Star State Matchups
11/9/2022 11:21:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
BIRMINGHAM – The UAB Volleyball Team wraps up their last weekend series of the regular season with a pair of matches in Texas. The Blazers take on the UNT Mean Green on Thursday, Nov. 10 before traveling west to play against the UTEP Miners on Saturday, Nov. 12.
"One word to describe our season would be growth. We are better today than we were in August, which is a testament to the work and the determination our team has to improve each day," said Betsy Freeburg. "This week intends to 'embrace the challenge.' That includes striving to improve, even in November."
UAB (12-12, 7-5 C-USA) at UNT (13-14, 7-5 C-USA)
Nov. 10 | 6 p.m. | North Texas Volleyball Center | Denton, Texas
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SCOUTING THE MEAN GREEN
The Blazers and Mean Green make their first meeting of the season, with the overall series resulting in a 4-8 record. The last meeting between these two teams trails back from the 2021 season, where UAB fell to UNT 1-3 in Bartow. These two teams have a near identical record on the conference side, with the Mean Green sitting at the fifth-place spot while the Blazers hold the fourth-place slot.
UNT's schedule has seen the likes of two Top 25 opponents, including Washington and fellow C-USA member, Rice. The Mean Green holds top five spots in five statistical categories, including the number one spot in blocks. This is credited to players such as Sh'Diamond Holly. The UNO transfer joins UNT with an average hitting percentage of .372 and a season-high eight blocks against UTSA.
As a collective, the Mean Green are ranked eighth in hitting percentage, fifth in assists and kills, and third in blocks.
UAB (12-12, 7-5 C-USA) at UTEP (14-11, 8-4 C-USA)
Nov. 12 | 12 p.m. | Memorial Gym | El Paso, Texas
LIVE STATS
SCOUTING THE MINERS
UTEP sits at the number three slot in league play, where their only losses come from UNT, Rice, and WKU. The Miners, who played the No. 22 ranked Owls twice, took them to five sets in their first meeting. In their second meeting, UTEP dropped the match in a straight-set loss. The Miners remain at the top of the pack despite this.
As a team, the Miners hold the number one spot in service aces with an average of 1.97 per set. Contributing to that feat is Sara Pustahija, who leads the team in aces with 47 total. Pustahija also holds the third slot on the team in kills with 221 for the Miners. The top spot in kills belongs to Torrance Lovesee, who joins UTEP on the court after suffering an injury her freshman year. Lovesee tallied a season-high 20 kills against UNT.
QUOTES FROM BETSY FREEBURG
"North Texas is a physical team with some great attackers and a really impressive block. We will have to play disciplined and smart offensively and serve aggressively to give our team a head start defensively. We expect this match to be a real challenge which should be exciting in the last week of conference play. As far as rankings go, we didn't talk about it much. We knew our goals for the year, and as far as we're concerned those are still out in front of us to achieve."
"UTEP is a team we have had a great rivalry with over the last two years of split divisions. They are going to be in a 6-2 with a combination of experienced veteran players and freshmen that provide a lot of energy and spark."
"The way the CUSA schedule worked out, we were able to take a little more time recovering and getting a jump start on preparation for these two matches this weekend. This is beneficial, especially depending on how this weekend ends up. There's a great chance we could be turning around and playing UNT or UTEP again next weekend. We are rested, prepared, and excited about the opportunity ahead."
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