The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Rice University
Weekly Preview: UAB Volleyball Opens Up Conference Run in AAC
9/19/2023 6:27:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
BIRMINGHAM – UAB Volleyball (2-10, 0-0 AAC) begins their first season in AAC play this week as they travel to Rice to take on the Owls on Wednesday and return to Bartow Arena, hosting East Carolina on Saturday and Sunday.
The Blazers come off their non-conference season with a record of 2-10 overall. In the league, the Blazers are ranked seventh in service aces. Kelsey Smith ranks fifth in service aces and seventh in total points, while Chloe Rodriguez also sits seventh in the league in hitting percentage. Anna Burkhardt ranks third in digs with 4.60 per set.
UAB (2-10, 0-0 AAC) vs. Rice (6-4, 0-0 AAC)
Sept. 20 | 6 PM | Tudor Fieldhouse | Houston, Tex.
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SCOUTING THE OWLS
It is not the first meeting between the Blazers and Owls, with UAB meeting with Rice last season at Bartow Arena. The Blazers fell to the then-ranked No. 22 Rice in four sets, where the Green and Gold had two Blazers finish with double-doubles.
The Blazers and Owls meet once again in a new conference. Rice comes off a 6-4 non-conference run where they had a notable win over then-ranked No. 22 USC to start their season. They also met with teams along the links of Texas, Stanford, and Baylor and closed out the non-conference slate with a win over Kansas State.
Rice was once ranked No. 18 in the Nation, with their most recent conference honor to Danyle Courtley. Courtley was named to the AAC Honor Roll on Sept. 18, hitting .316 and hit .280 in the team's meeting versus Texas. In addition to Courtley, two more Owls were named to the AAC Honor Roll the week before Satasha Kostelecky and Kaitlyn Knobbe. Knobbe currently ranks seventh in the league in blocks, while Dayle is third in kills per set with 3.76.
UAB (2-10, 0-0 AAC) vs. ECU (9-2, 0-0 AAC)
Sept. 23-24 | 6 PM | Tudor Fieldhouse | Houston, Tex.
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SCOUTING THE PIRATES
UAB meets East Carolina for the first time in a decade, where the Blazers enter the overall series on a 12-match win-streak spanning to 2006. The Pirates last hosted UAB in Greenville in 2013.
Entering this season, the Pirates are 9-2 overall as they closed out the Virginia Tech Classic with a five-set victory over the Hokies. ECU sits on a five-match win streak as they enter their conference season against Wichita State on Wednesday. The Pirates rank second in the conference in hitting percentage with .256, Angeles Alderete ranked tenth in the league in kills with 2.89 per set, and Alderete ranked third in aces and ninth in points.
As a squad, the Pirates total 485 kills and 156 attack errors. They held their opponents to .129 and forced 236 errors. They rank sixth in the conference in blocks with 84 total and averaging 2.21 per set. They also ranked in the top half in ten other statistical categories throughout the AAC.
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