SAN ANTONIO -- Picked to finish sixth in the preseason, UTSA volleyball has finished second place in the Conference USA regular-season standings and will earn the No. 3 seed. UTSA will face sixth-seeded FIU (17-11, 9-5) on Friday at 6 p.m. CT at Marshall's Cam Henderson Center.
All games of the 2018 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Volleyball Championship are broadcast live on ESPN+. Rice (21-6, 12-2 C-USA) won the regular-season title and will face Charlotte (16-14, 6-8 C-USA) in the opener on Friday.
WKU (20-9, 11-3 C-USA) will be the No. 2 seed and will face seventh-seeded Southern Miss (16-14, 7-7 C-USA) on Friday, before UTSA's match with FIU. The Roadrunners own a five-set win over FIU (23-25, 25-15, 25-22, 22-25, 15-9) on Oct. 12 in San Antonio in the lone meeting between the two teams in the tournament.
This will mark UTSA's sixth appearance in six years of its history in C-USA. The Roadrunners own a 8-4 record over its previous five years, last winning the league tournament title during their first year in C-USA, 2013. The Roadrunners are seeking their fourth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance.
UTSA has been paced by a pair of dynamic freshmen outside hitters in 2018, including Hannah Lopez and Kirby Smith. Smith leads the team with 3.00 kills per set, adding 2.93 digs and 24 service aces. Lopez, a product of San Antonio's Churchill High School, averages 2.86 kills and 1.70 digs per set. Juniors Brianna McCulloch and Kara Teal have helped power the offense, with Teal hitting .337 with 2.36 kills per set and McCulloch owning 2.83 kills per set with 0.84 blocks per game. Sophomore Hannah Froeschl, a member of the C-USA All-Freshman Team in 2017, averages 2.21 kills per set with a .286 hitting percentage.
UTSA senior setter Amanda Gonzales has 8.16 assists and 2.18 digs per set. Senior libero Shelby Williams owns a team-high 4.23 digs per set with 31 service aces. Freshman setter Mia Perales has averaged 4.53 assists and 1.79 digs per set.
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