The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Volleyball Concludes Regular Season At Home
11/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
UAB (7-23, 3-11 C-USA) vs. Southern Miss (20-11, 9-5 C-USA)
Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. CT
Birmingham, Ala. – Bartow Arena
Coverage: Live Stats | Watch
UAB (7-23, 3-11 C-USA) vs. Marshall (14-15, 8-6 C-USA)
Sunday, Nov. 16 at 12 p.m. CT
Birmingham, Ala. – Bartow Arena
Coverage: Live Stats | Watch
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB volleyball team will host Southern Miss and Marshall in its final regular season games of the year. The Blazers and Golden Eagles will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, and UAB and the Thundering Herd will meet at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
UAB (7-23, 3-11 C-USA) is coming off a 3-1 win in a midweek match against Alabama State. The Blazers finished with a season-high .427 attack percentage and held the Hornets to a .148 clip on the night. UAB also matched its season-best 56 kills in four-set matches.
Senior Bethanie Thomas led the Blazers with 16 kills, sophomore Gabby Deshotel added 13 and seniors Sara Rishell and Kiriana Hirini each contributed 10 kills. Running the offense at setter for the Blazers was freshman Gabbi Moreno, who dished out 30 helpers and added two kills.
Fight Like Hal Night
Friday’s match will serve as the ‘Fight Like Hal’ night, UAB’s annual cancer awareness match. The event, which raises awareness for all types of cancer, was started in honor of the late Hal Messersmith, a former UAB assistant coach and director of operations who passed away from cancer in July of 2013.
Fans who attend the match will have the opportunity to sign a memory wall to honor Messersmith. The first 250 fans will receive ‘Fight Like Hal’ t-shirts and purple bands will be handed out to all fans in attendance.
Senior Night
Sunday’s match will honor UAB’s five seniors, Leslie Ekpe, Kiriana Hirini, Sara Rishell, Lindsay Simmons and Bethanie Thomas. Fans are encouraged to stick around after the match, as each student-athlete will be recognized.
Series History
UAB and Southern Miss will meet for the 46th time in the series and second time this season. Earlier in the year the Blazers and Golden Eagles met in Hattiesburg, Miss., with Southern Miss taking the win, 3-1.
This will also be the second meeting between UAB and Marshall. The Blazers and Thundering Herd played in Huntington, W. Va. on Oct. 17, with UAB earning a 3-1 victory to extend its series advantage to 11-7.
Scouting the Opposition
Southern Miss (20-11, 9-5 C-USA) split its last two matches with a win over Florida Atlantic, 3-0, after falling to WKU, 3-1. Stephany Purdue leads the Golden Eagles with an average of 3.25 kills per set. As a team, Southern Miss ranks second in C-USA in assists (13.20/set) and kills (14/set).
Marshall (14-15, 8-6 C-USA) won four-straight before dropping is most recent match to WKU, 3-0. Ally Kiekover leads the Thundering Herd with 2.68 kills per set. Defensively, Jillian Shemanski is averaging 1.08 blocks per set, which leads the team and ranks third in C-USA.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For volleyball news, follow @UAB_VB.
