The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers To 'Scare Away Cancer' Friday Night Versus UCF
10/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 29, 2009
"Scare Away Cancer" Flyer 
UAB-UCF Gametracker | Watch Live!
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB volleyball team will host UCF on Friday as part of the Blazers' Scare Away Cancer fall festival. The UCF contest opens UAB's Conference USA home weekend, which also includes a Sunday showdown against Southern Miss.
Friday's fall festival is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on the Bartow Arena concourse with face painting, pumpkin decorating and more for the whole family. Click here for complete details on the fall festival. First serve between UAB and UCF is slated for 7 p.m., and fans who print out and present the flyer linked above will receive free admission.
The match has been designated as UAB's Dig for the Cure contest to raise breast cancer awareness and to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Fans will be able to make donations or pledge a certain amount of money per dig at the match.
For the Blazers (12-13, 5-5 C-USA) and Knights (11-13, 3-8 C-USA), Friday's meeting is the second of the season. UAB defeated UCF, 3-2 (25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-12), in Orlando back on Oct. 2. Andrea Lalic led the Blazers with 21 kills in the win, while Heather Thomas posted 29 digs and Alison Woods managed 58 assists. Those totals were career-bests for all three players.
For the season, Lalic owns a team-best 2.90 kills per set average as one of four Blazers averaging more than 2.00. Thomas leads the squad with 4.76 digs-per-frame, while Woods' 9.68 assists-per-set and seven double-doubles are team-bests.
UCF is led offensively by Erin Campbell and Kristin Fisher with 3.66 and 3.17 kills per set, respectively. The Knights split two conference matches last weekend, winning 3-0 against East Carolina but falling 3-0 to Marshall. They have lost four of their past five matches entering Friday's contest.
Sunday's match is set for a 1 p.m. start at Bartow Arena as UAB plays host to Southern Miss (21-4, 9-2 C-USA), which enters the weekend tied atop the league standings with Tulane. Southern Miss plays Friday at Memphis before heading on to Birmingham.
Ashley Mell paces the Golden Eagles' attack with 3.38 kills per set, while setter Kelsea Seymour ranks fourth in the conference with a 10.51 assists-per-frame average. Defensively, three Southern Miss players are averaging at least 2.60 digs per set, led by Maia Ivanova at 4.52.
UAB and Southern Miss met earlier this season on Oct. 4 with the Golden Eagles sweeping the Blazers, 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-21), in Hattiesburg. Lalic posted 11 kills in the match for UAB, while Thomas and Jordan McDonald tallied 13 digs each. Southern Miss outside hitter Caitlin Clark led all players with 15 kills.
Live coverage of this weekend's matches includes Gamtracker live stats and All-Access streaming video online at uabsports.com.
