The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Head To Tulane, UTEP In Conference USA Action
10/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 22, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB volleyball team hits the road again this weekend as the Conference USA season enters its second half.
The Blazers will travel to Tulane for an 8 p.m. CT match on Friday before continuing on to UTEP to face the Miners on Sunday at Noon MT (1 p.m. CT).
UAB (11-12, 4-4 C-USA) is looking to rebound from a pair of 3-0 road losses last weekend at SMU and Tulsa that dropped the Blazers from a fourth-place tie to seventh in the league standings. Sophomore libero Heather Thomas was UAB's top performer with 20 digs in both matches as she moved into 10th place on the program's single-season digs list with 418 on the year.
Offensively, balance continues to be the name of the game for the Blazers, which feature four players averaging at least 2.15 kills per set, led by senior outside hitter Andrea Lalic at 2.99. Junior middle blocker Michelle Uzoh owns a team-best .345 attack percentage and also ranks second in C-USA with 1.12 blocks per set.
Tulane (12-6, 7-2 C-USA) enters Friday's match on a hot streak, having recorded 3-0 sweeps in each of its past three matches with conference wins over UCF, Marshall and East Carolina. The Green Wave have won eight of their past 10 matches and check in at second place in the C-USA standings.
Tulane boasts one of the top offensive performers in the conference in outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic, who leads the league with 4.36 kills per set. Green Wave setter Rachel Lindelow is second in the conference in assists at 10.94 per frame.
UAB trails 16-9 in the all-time series with Tulane. The teams played twice last season with both matches going the distance. UAB earned a 3-2 win in the regular-season meeting in Birmingham, which was televised by CBS College Sports, but the Green Wave earned a measure of revenge with a 3-2 victory in the finals of the Conference USA Championship. Both teams went on to compete in the NCAA tournament.
UTEP (9-12, 2-6 C-USA) comes into the weekend looking to snap a six-match losing streak. The Miners will host Memphis on Friday before Sunday's contest with UAB. UTEP suffered a pair of losses last weekend at East Carolina and Marshall, but the Miners are 5-4 at home this season.
Outside hitters Amy Sanders and Catherine Chavez lead UTEP offensively with 3.46 and 2.90 kills per set, respectively. Defensively, Jennifer Nolasco owns a team-best 3.26 digs-per-frame average.
UAB won the only meeting between the teams last season with a 3-0 victory in Birmingham. The Blazers lead 3-2 in the all-time series with UTEP.
As always, fans can follow both matches this weekend through Gametracker at uabsports.com.
