SAN ANTONIO -- Winners of three of four matches to open league play, UTSA volleyball will travel to face UAB on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT in Bartow Arena.
UTSA (11-5, 3-1 Conference USA) sits a half-game back of Rice (3-0) for first place in the league standings, with the Owls owning a four-set win over the Roadrunners on Sept. 28. UTSA will face UAB (9-8, 1-2 C-USA) on Sunday after earning a five-set win at UTEP last Sunday.
The Roadrunners used the five-set win over UTEP on Sunday to claim three of four to open league play. The win marked the 300th of the career of UTSA Coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff, in her 17th year leading the Roadrunners.
UTSA has totaled 13.9 kills, 13.2 assists, 15.5 digs and 1.7 blocks per set as a team in 2018. The Roadrunners have been paced offensively by freshman Hannah Lopez, who averages 3.15 kills and 1.98 digs per set.
Juniors Brianna McCulloch and Kara Teal have each starred, with McCulloch owning 3.10 kills and 0.57 blocks per set. Teal has 2.19 kills and a team-high 0.86 blocks per set. Kirby Smith averages 3.31 kills and 3.35 digs per set, tops among C-USA freshmen. Sophomore Hannah Froeschl has averaged 2.24 kills per set, with freshman Kenedi Rutherford totaling 2.21 kills per set. Senior Amanda Gonzales leads the team with 8.46 assists per set and senior Shelby Williams has a club-high 4.14 digs per set.
UTSA leads the all-time series with UAB, 8-1, winning the last eight meetings. The lone win for the Blazers came in the opening of the series, 3-2, in 1994 in Birmingham.
UAB has averaged 12.8 kills, 12.1 assists, 14.3 digs and 2.1 blocks per set as a team. Abby Carlile leads the team with 3.08 kills per set with Victoria Young and Emily Rudolph leading the club with one block per set. Shelby Holderfield has 10.39 assists per set and Emily Martinez has 3.06 digs per set.
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