2012 UAB Volleyball Fact Book

2 0 1 2 Vo l l e y b a l l

I n f o r m a t i o n G u i d e

5 U A B B l a z e r s

Volleyball2012

2012 UAB VolleyballGeneral InformationLocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Birmingham, Ala .Founded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1969Enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,543Interim President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard MarchaseAthletics Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brian Mackin (UAB, 1983)Faculty Athletics Representative . . . . . . .Dr . Frank Messina (West Alabama, 1986)Nickname . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BlazersColors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Forest Green & Old GoldHome Arena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bartow Arena (8,500)Affiliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NCAA Division IConference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conference USA (C-USA)Athletic Deptartment Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (205) 975-8221Ticket Office Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (205) 975-8221Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www .uabsports .com

Volleyball InformationHead Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kerry Messersmith (Chadron State, 1986)Record at UAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131-72 (7th season)Career Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605-324 (25th season)Assistant Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Casey Ouren (UAB, 2009)Assistant Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bailey Coleman (Georgia Southern, 2008)Director of Volleyball Operations . . . . . . .Hal Messersmith (Chadron State, 1986)Volunteer Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shawn Matthews (Abilene Christian, 2004)Volleyball Office Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (205) 934-6003First Year of Volleyball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1978All-Time Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613-614 (35th season)NCAA Apearances/Most Recent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/20082011 Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-92011 C-USA Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-72011 C-USA Finish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T-2ndLetterwinners Returning/Lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/2Starters Returning/Lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6/1 (Libero)Newcomers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Athletic Media RelationsAssociate AD for Media Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Norm ReillyAssociate Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aaron JordanAssistant Director (Volleyball Contact) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ben WarnickWarnick’s Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . warnick@uab .eduWarnick’s Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (205) 934-0725Assistant Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rod BlackMedia Relations Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathryn RobertsMedia Relations Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (205) 934-0722Media Relations Fax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (205) 934-7505Mailing Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bartow Arena - West Tower BRTW Room 105 1720 2nd Ave . South Birmingham, AL 35294

Table of Contents

Quick Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Roster Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32011 Season Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5Coaching Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9Returning Player Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-23Newcomer Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Bartow Arena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252011 Season Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-272011 Statisics/Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282011 Conference USA Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Record Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30-31Honors & Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32-33All-Time Won-Loss/Coaching Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34All-Time Series Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35All-Time Letterwinners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36NCAA Tournament History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37UAB Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38-39Conference USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Birmingham “The Magic City” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41Proud Past Bright Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42-44Blazer Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45UAB All-Americans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Excellence at the Next Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Gene Bartow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48UAB at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49-51Sports Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52-53Academics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54-55Strength & Conditioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56-57Campus Rec Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Please Call us UAB

Please note that there are only two correct versions of our name, the acro-nym ‘UAB,’ or the full, ‘University of Alabama at Birmingham .’

We are: UAB or University of Alabama at BirminghamWe are not: Alabama-Birmingham, Ala .-Birm ., Ala .-Birmingham or U .A .B .

Online at uabsports.com

The official UAB athletics website, uabsports .com, is the most comprehensive source for information on all Blazer teams . The site provides fans with the latest news, results and features along with rosters, bios, statistics, game notes and more . Again in 2011, fans can watch Blazer home matches with live video through uabsports .com . The video streaming is available through the Blazers All-Access package .

Follow UAB Volleyball on Twitter

@UABathletics || @UAB_VB


Volleyball2012

General Information

Print THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 201 Monroe Street, Suite 1940Montgomery, AL 36104800/821-3737 (In-state only) 334/262-5947(FAX) 334/265-7177John Zenor (jzenor@ap .org)

THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS2000 4th Ave . N .Birmingham, AL 35203-3840325-2431 • (FAX) 325-2425Tom Arenberg (Sports Editor)Steve Irvine (Beat Writer) sirvine@bhamnews .comsports@bhamnews .com

KALEIDOSCOPE (Student)HUC 135Birmingham, AL 35294-1150934-3354 • (FAX) 934-8050sports@insideuab .com

UAB REPORTER (Campus)Birmingham, AL 35294-0113934-2040 • (FAX) 934-7911

Television ABC 33/40800 Concourse PkwyBirmingham, AL 35244-1874982-3988 • (FAX) 982-3942Mike Raita (Sports Director)miker@abc3340 .com(Jeff Speegle)

FOX 61720 Valley ViewBirmingham, AL 35209-1251583-4345 • (FAX) 583-4356Rick Karle (Sports Director)sports@gowbrc .com(Sheldon Haygood)

NBC 131732 Valley ViewBirmingham, AL 35209-1251558-7347 • (FAX) 323-3314Don Hawes (Sports Director)dhawes@wvtm .com

CBS 422075 Golden Crest DriveBirmingham, AL 35209322-4200 • (FAX) 320-2722Jim Dunaway (Sports Director)jdunaway@cbs42 .com

Radio WJOX-FM 94.5 (All Sports)244 Goodwin Crest Drive, Suite 300Birmingham, Ala . 35209-3700942-6690 • (FAX) 945-3999

UAB BROADCASTINGISP Sports 1530 3rd Ave . SouthBirmingham, AL 35294996-5812 • (FAX) 934-7505Leon RyanGeneral ManagerLeon .Ryan@imgworld .com

Internet BLAZERSPORTSREPORT.COM Jack Williams (repjack47@aol .com)Larry Powell

BLAZERTV.COM Mitchell Miller (director@blazertv .com)Tyler Cantrell

*Area code is 205 for all phone numbers unless otherwise noted.

Media Outlets 2012 Schedule

Blue Raider Bash Aug . 24 vs . UTSA Murfreesboro, Tenn . 2:30 p .m . at Middle Tennessee Murfreesboro, Tenn . 7:30 p .m .Aug . 25 vs . UC Davis Murfreesboro, Tenn . 10:00 a .m . vs . Furman Murfreesboro, Tenn . 3:00 p .m .

Notre Dame Shamrock Invitational Aug . 31 at Notre Dame South Bend, Ind . 6:00 p .m .Sept . 1 vs . Eastern Kentucky South Bend, Ind . 3:30 p .m .Sept . 2 vs . Buffalo South Bend, Ind . 10:30 a .m . Sept. 4 GEORGIA STATE BARTOW ARENA 7:00 p.m.

Carolina Clash Sept . 7 vs . Winthrop Columbia, S .C . 3:30 p .m .Sept . 8 at South Carolina Columbia, S .C . 10:00 a .m . vs . Clemson Columbia, S .C . 4:00 p .m .

Purdue Active Ankle Challenge Sept . 14 vs . Bowling Green West Lafayette, Ind . 11:00 a .m . at Purdue West Lafayette, Ind . 6:30 p .m .Sept . 15 vs . Jacksonville State West Lafayette, Ind . 3:30 p .m .

Sept. 21 HOUSTON* BARTOW ARENA 7:00 p.m.Sept. 23 RICE* BARTOW ARENA 1:00 p.m.Sept . 28 at UTEP* El Paso, Texas 8:00 p .m .Sept . 30 at Tulane* New Orleans, La . 1:00 p .m .Oct . 5 at Memphis* Memphis, Tenn . 7:00 p .m .Oct. 7 MEMPHIS* BARTOW ARENA 4:00 p.m.Oct. 9 ALABAMA A&M BARTOW ARENA 7:00 p.m.Oct. 12 SOUTHERN MISS* BARTOW ARENA 7:00 p.m.Oct. 14 UCF* BARTOW ARENA 12:00 p.m.Oct. 16 MIDDLE TENNESSEE BARTOW ARENA 7:00 p.m.Oct . 19 at Marshall* Huntington, W .Va . 7:00 p .m .Oct . 21 at East Carolina* Greenville, N .C . 12:00 p .m .Oct. 25 SMU* BARTOW ARENA 7:00 p.m.Oct . 28 at Tulsa* Tulsa, Okla . 1:00 p .m .Nov. 2 EAST CAROLINA* BARTOW ARENA 7:00 p.m.Nov. 4 MARSHALL* BARTOW ARENA 1:00 p.m.Nov . 9 at UCF* Orlando, Fla . 6:00 p .m .Nov . 11 at Southern Miss* Hattiesburg, Miss . 1:00 p .m .Nov . 16-18 C-USA Tournament Tulsa, Okla . TBD

* Conference USA match .Home matches in BOLD CAPS .

Information Guide Credits The 2012 UAB Volleyball Information Guide is an official publication of the UAB Athletic Media Relations office . Editors/Designers: Assistant Media Relations Director Ben Warnick with assistance from Provations Group (Nicholasville, Ky .) . Contributions and Editorial Assistance: Norm Reilly, Aaron Jordan, Leia Duncan and former UAB volleyball sports information directors . Cover Concept/Design: Provations Group (Nicholasville, Ky .) . Photography: Ashley Fleming, Steve Wood, Stephen Pinchback, Don Liebil, Nik Layman, Joe Murphy, Scott Bruhn, Tod Van Emst and Sam Morgan .


Volleyball2012

Roster Information

Roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Cl. Hometown (Last School) 1 Alison Woods S 5-9 Sr . Franklin, Tenn . (Centennial HS) 2 Sam Serley MB 6-2 Sr . Nashville, Tenn . (Independence HS) 3 Becca Howard S 5-9 Jr . Tampa, Fla . (Plant HS) 4 Rachel Fairbanks L/OH 5-8 Jr . Katy, Texas (Cinco Ranch HS) 6 Kirsten Gallagher MB/OPP 6-2 Sr . Auburn, Ala . (Auburn HS) 7 Kate Morrell OH 6-0 Sr . Ogallala, Neb . (Hutchinson [Kan .] CC) 8 Emma Schroer S 5-10 Fr . Ogallala, Neb . (Ogallala HS) 9 Ally Slaughter OH 5-11 Jr . Pelham, Ala . (Pelham HS) 10 Bethany Stanford L/DS 5-6 Jr . Hoover, Ala . (Univ . of West Florida) 11 Lindsay Simmons MB/OH 6-0 R-Fr . Danville, Ala . (Danville HS) 12 Mariah McCallum L/DS 5-5 R-Fr . Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla . (Nease HS) 14 Ashley Ricks OPP 6-3 So . New Washington, Ind . (Our Lady of Providence HS) 20 Michele Simmons OPP 6-3 Sr . Alabaster, Ala . (Univ . of Georgia) 21 Kiriana Hirini MB 6-1 So . Tauranga, New Zealand (Long Beach State Univ .) 24 Ally Peters OH 6-0 Fr . Medina, Ohio (Medina HS) 33 Sam Skinner MB/OH 5-10 R-Fr . Birmingham, Ala . (Oak Mountain HS)

Coaching StaffHead Coach: Kerry Messersmith, seventh season (Chadron State, 1986)Assistant Coach: Casey Ouren, fourth season (UAB, 2009)Assistant Coach: Bailey Coleman, first season (Georgia Southern, 2008)Volunteer Assistant: Shawn Matthews (Abilene Christian, 2004)Director of Volleyball Operations: Hal Messersmith, seventh season (Chadron State, 1986)

Pronunciation Guide Kiriana Hirini (keer-e-an-uh heer-E-nee)Mariah McCallum (muh-RYE-uh)Kate Morrell (mor-EL)Emma Schroer (Sh-WORE)

Roster Breakdown

By ClassFreshmen (5) Emma Schroer, Lindsay Simmons, Mariah McCallum, Ally Peters, Sam SkinnerSophomores (2) Ashley Ricks, Kiriana HiriniJuniors (4) Becca Howard, Rachel Fairbanks, Ally Slaughter, Bethany StanfordSeniors (5) Alison Woods, Sam Serley, Kirsten Gal-lagher, Kate Morrell, Michele Simmons

By PositionMiddle Blocker (6) Sam Serley, Kirsten Gallagher, Lindsay Simmons, Michele Simmons, Kiriana Hirini, Sam SkinnerOutside Hitter (6) Rachel Fairbanks, Kate Morrell, Lindsay Simmons, Sam Skinner, Ally Slaughter, Ally PetersOpposite (3) Kirsten Gallagher, Ashley Ricks, Michele SimmonsSetter (3) Becca Howard, Alison Woods, Emma SchroerDefensive Specialist (3) Rachel Fairbanks, Mariah McCallum, Bethany Stanford

1 2 3

6 7 8 9

4

14 12 11 10

20 21 24 33

Alison Woods Sam Serley Becca Howard Rachel Fairbanks

Kirsten Gallagher Kate Morrell Emma Schroer Ally Slaughter

Bethany Stanford Lindsay Simmons Mariah McCallum Ashley Ricks

Michele Simmons Kiriana Hirini Ally Peters Sam Skinner


Volleyball2012

2012 Blazers OutlookIn her seventh season leading the Green and Gold, UAB volleyball head coach Kerry Messersmith enters the 2012 campaign with a strong returning group that won 23 games a season ago.

In 2011, UAB finished tied for second in the league standings at 13-7 (23-9 overall) and brings back six of seven starters, 10 total letterwinners and 14 student-athletes off last season’s roster.

Messersmith, who garnered the C-USA co-Coach of the Year in 2011, is excited about the upcoming season and the preparation the team put in during the offseason to make a run to the NCAA Tournament.

“We have been happy with the intensity so far in preseason camp,” Messersmith said. “The girls came back in great shape. They’ve worked hard over the summer – we had all of them here and that was a big plus.”

Of the six starters returning for the Blazers, five are seniors in Kirsten Gallagher, Kate Morrell, Sam Serley, Michele Simmons and Alison Woods. Messersmith feels that this senior class can lead the team to the NCAA Tournament, just like the 2008 team did four seasons ago, the last time UAB advanced past the confer-ence championship.

Messersmith, her coaching staff and veteran-laden club have high expectations for the season and the chance to make plenty of noise in Conference USA in 2012.

“Our goal is to go to the NCAA Tournament,” Messersmith said. “We feel we have a schedule that would allow us, if successful, the opportunity to get us an at-large bid.

“We are also huge supporters of the conference tournament and that gives us another avenue to get into the NCAA Tournament. Our goal is to get there, and we are not going to lose track of that goal and that is what we are shooting for.”

The following is a position-by-position breakdown of the Blazers 2012 roster.

MIDDLE BLOCKERSKirsten Gallagher, Sr. || Kiriana Hirini, So.Sam Serley, Sr. || Lindsay Simmons, R-Fr.

UAB had a knack for stonewalling the opposition’s offense last year, totaling 17 matches with 10-or-more blocks as a club. In those matches, UAB posted a 15-2 record with 10 of those wins coming in Conference USA play.

Messersmith noted a trio of student-athletes that will control the front line in Sam Serley, Kiriana Hirini and Kirsten Gallagher. All three made major con-tributions last season.

“We’ve really pinpoint-ed three kids at the mid-dle blocker position to lead us,” Messersmith said. “Sam Serley is back and is probably in better shape than she ever has been, which is really exciting. Kirsten Gallagher started there for us last year for most the season. She has really come out and had

an outstanding camp so far and looked great anywhere on the floor we have put her.”

Serley, who was named to the Preseason All-Con-ference USA Team, is a two-time honorable men-tion AVCA All-American. She is one of two players to ever earn the distinct honor on more than one occasion while donning the Green and Gold.

Last season, Serley ranked third in the league in hitting percentage (.351) and blocks per set (1.31), earning first-team all-conference recognition. The Nashville, Tenn., product enters her final season with the Blazers in the top 10 in school history in multiple statistical categories.

Gallagher, who is a fifth-year senior, was also a force to be reck-oned with at the net in 2011. The Auburn, Ala., native finished ninth in blocks per set (1.02) and 12th in hitting percentage (.278) amongst all C-USA players.

A player that really emerged during the second half of last season was New Zealand native Kiriana Hirini. In 19 total matches, total-ing 40 sets, Hirini averaged an impressive 1.55 blocks per set and backed that defense with a .263 attacking clip.

Adding depth to the middle blockers is redshirt freshman Lindsay Simmons, who has also worked with the outside hitters in pre-season workouts.

OPPOSITE SIDE HITTERSAshley Ricks, So. || Michele Simmons, Sr.

Senior Michele Simmons and sophomore Ashley Ricks did a solid job as opposite hitters a season ago, exchanging for each other in the front row out of the 6-2 offense. Simmons and Ricks would share duties yet again this season, being a major factors in one of the top blocking brigades in Conference USA.

“Both Michele Simmons and Ashley Ricks proved their worth last year,” Messersmith said. “They are both tremendous players offensively and defensively. It is a strength for us that they are big 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4 players on the right side and they put up a big block against the other outside hitters. That is what we are counting on this year.”

Combined, Simmons and Ricks averaged 3.50 kills and 1.40 blocks per set and participated in 115 and 113 of a possible 118 sets in 2011.

Ricks, who individually averaged 0.82 blocks per set, produced a match with 12 swats against UTEP last year. The key for Ricks is to be as potent on offense as she was on defense in her second year in Birmingham.

Messersmith also said that Gallagher could see time as an oppo-site side hitter, depending on a number of different variables. She saw part time action at that position in 2011.GALLAGHER

SERLEY


Volleyball2012

2012 Blazers OutlookOUTSIDE HITTERSKate Morrell, Sr. || Ally Peters, Fr. Sam Skinner, R-Fr. || Ally Slaughter, Jr.

Kate Morrell and Ally Slaughter were two main cogs in the Blazer offense a season ago and have shown great improvements since 2011.

Kate Morrell and Ally Slaughter were two main cogs in the Blazer offense a season ago and have shown great improvements since 2011.

Last season, Morrell was an extremely balanced player, averag-ing a team-best 2.81 kills per set along with 2.84 digs per set. Intotal she also produced 12 double-doubles, which tied for the most on the squad. Additionally, this past summer, the Ogallala, Neb., native played in the European Global Challenge as a mem-ber of the Bring It Promotions Southeastern team.

“Kate looks phenomenal,” Messersmith said. “She had a great spring in sand, she went on an international tour and she might be in the best shape out of any player I’ve ever coached in 25 years.”

Entering her third season with the Blazers, Slaughter has shown great improvement on the defensive side of the court in pre-season workouts. Her offense showed flashes of excellence as she averaged 2.38 kills per set, but providing that attack from set-to-set is something that Messersmith feels the Pelham, Ala., native will improve upon in 2012.

Messersmith has also been extremely impressed with redshirt freshman Sam Skinner who is a native of Birmingham and played at nearby Oak Mountain High School.

“We have really thrown (Sam) around between posi-tions, but once she gets going and becomes more consistent, she is every bit as capable of being one of the top outside hitters we have in this confer-ence,” Messersmith said. “She is a very dynamic player and a little bit different than the other two (Morrell and Slaughter), and is a very strong athlete.”

Adding to the outside hitters is true freshman Ally Peters, who comes to the Magic City from Medina, Ohio. At Medina High School she was an All-Ohio selection her senior season, averaging 4.9 kills and 2.2 digs per set.

SETTERSBecca Howard, Jr. || Emma Schroer, Fr. || Alison Woods, Sr.

Both floor generals are back for the Blazers to run the show offensively in setters Becca Howard and Alison Woods. The duo splits time distributing the ball to the fleet of hitters UAB’s lineup sports out of the 6-2 offense.

“We are excited to have both of our setters back,” Messersmith said. “I think those two players have improved on defense, which had a lot to do with playing sand (volleyball) and having to cover that whole court.”

Howard and Woods com-bined to dish out 10.33 assists per set in 2011 and combined for 20 dou-ble-doubles. Entering her senior season, Woods sits fifth all-time in program history in helpers, while Howard is closing in on 1,000 career assists.

Although both setters have at least two years of collegiate play under their belts, Messersmith hopes to see the offense be more stable this sea-son.

Adding depth to the position is freshman Emma Schroer from Ogallala, Neb., where she served as both an outside hitter and setter during her senior season. Last fall she collected more than 200 kills and 450 assists her senior year. Schroer is also the niece of Messersmith.

DEFENSIVE SPECIALISTS/LIBERORachel Fairbanks, Jr. || Mariah McCallum, R-Fr.Bethany Stanford, Jr.

Even with 14 student-athletes returning from the 2011 roster, Messersmith does have a big hole to fill in the back row, after losing three-year starting libero Heather Thomas to graduation.

Thomas, who set numerous records during her time as a Blazer, finished with the school record for career digs (2,131), which also ranked fourth in Conference USA history.

Messersmith has three players on the roster that will step in and try to fill the libero shoes in Rachel Fairbanks, Mariah McCallum and Bethany Stanford.

“Rachel has been with the program for two years and is a tre-mendous athlete,” Messersmith said. “She is a different kind of libero than Heather (Thomas) was and is a great communicator.”

Last season, Fairbanks saw time in the back row, along with serv-ing as an outside hitter. In limited action she averaged 1.38 kills and 2.25 digs per set.

McCallum, who redshirted last season, came to UAB from Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where she corralled more than 2,100 digs in her career.

Another defensive specialist that could suit up as the libero is junior Bethany Stanford. The Hoover, Ala., product competed in 2010 for West Florida (Division II) before transferring home to play for the Blazers. She did not see game action last season.

WOODS

FAIRBANKS

1 0 U A B B l a z e r s

Volleyball2012

Coaching Staff

The Messersmith File

Career Record . . . . . . . 605-324 (24 seasons)NCAA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352-211 (15 seasons)Division I . . . . . . . . . . 247-124 (11 seasons)

Head Coaching Experience2006-Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . UAB (131-72)2001-05 . . . . . . . Georgia Southern (116-52)1997-00 . . . . . Arizona Western CC (129-65)1994-95 . . . . . . . . . . . Chadron State (46-29)1991-93 . . . . . . . . . . . Pittsburg State (59-58)1989-90 . . . . . . . . . . . Fort Scott CC (63-25)1987-88 . . . . . . . . Allen County CC (61-23)

NCAA Tournament Appearances2001 NCAA First Round (Georgia Southern)2003 NCAA First Round (Georgia Southern)2006 NCAA First Round (UAB)2008 NCAA Second Round (UAB)

EducationBachelor’s: Chadron State (1986)

FamilyHusband: HalChildren: Meghan (26) and Brynnley (22)

ResidesVestavia Hills, Ala .

Entering her seventh season at the helm of the UAB program, Kerry Messersmith has showcased contin-ued success in leading the Blazers, evident by four 23-plus win seasons and six straight seasons finish-ing .500 or better in Conference USA action.

In 2011, the Blazers were yet again one of the top programs in the league, finishing second in the standings at 23-9 overall and 13-7 against C-USA foes. As a result, Messersmith earned the C-USA Co-Coach of the Year award for the first time lead-ing the Blazers. The 13 victories in conference action tied Messersmith’s 2008 squad for the most in pro-gram history and the Green and Gold also recorded a 13-match win streak last season, the second lon-gest in UAB lore.

Messersmith reached a legendary milestone during the 2011 campaign, earning her 600th career coach-ing victory when UAB defeated Rice, 3-1, on Octo-ber 23 at Bartow Arena. Entering her 25th season on the sidelines, Messersmith boasts a career record of 605-324 (.651).

The Blazers posted two AVCA All-Midwest Region selections in Sam Serley (first team) and Heather Thomas (honorable mention) during the 2011 cam-paign. Serley and Thomas were also recognized by the conference, earning first and second team hon-ors, respectively. In addition, six times a player won C-USA Player of the Week accolades, five coming on defense.

Messersmith has guided numerous players to notch a spot in several statistics in the UAB record book. Most recently, Thomas, a 2012 graduate, set both the single season (631) and career (2,131) records for digs and finished fourth all-time in C-USA last season.

In the two seasons prior to Messersmith’s arrival in 2006, the Blazers were a combined 15-37, including a 1-24 campaign in 2004. The program had never won a Conference USA Championship and had never earned a berth in the NCAA tournament.

In the six seasons since she set foot in Birmingham, UAB has made three appearances in the C-USA Championship finals, competed in two NCAA tour-naments and posted an overall record of 131-72 (67-37 C-USA). Messersmith’s .645 winning percentage at the school is the highest in program history.

Her inaugural UAB squad made an immediate break-through in 2006, winning the program’s first C-USA Championship and advancing to its first NCAA tour-nament. The team’s 27 wins were the most by a Blazer squad since 1991.

M e s s e r s m i t h earned her 500th career win in the 2006 con-ference tourna-ment semifinals, and another victory the next day sealed an NCAA trip. The Blazers lost in the first round to fourth-ranked UCLA, but they would be back.

Following a 24-win campaign in 2007 and a conference tournament runner-up fin-ish that left the team just shy of another postseason berth, UAB posted its best season ever in 2008.

At 27-8, the 2008 UAB squad set a program record for winning percentage (.771) and won a school-record 16 straight matches. The Blazers finished sec-ond in the C-USA standings at 13-3 and advanced to the league tournament finals for the third consecu-tive year under Messersmith, losing a hard-fought five-setter to top-seeded Tulane.

But UAB was rewarded for its strong regular season with an NCAA tournament at-large berth and a trip to Lincoln, Neb. The Blazers swept Missouri State, 3-0, on Dec. 5 for the first NCAA tourney win in pro-gram history before falling in the second round to No. 4 overall seed Nebraska on the Huskers’ home floor at the historic NU Coliseum. UAB finished the year at No. 22 in the final RPI.

The 2008 team was led by a pair of AVCA honor-able mention All-Americans in Ivana Bozic (for the second time) and Nevena Stefanov, who was also the C-USA Setter of the Year. Three seasons later in 2011, Sam Serley (another two-time selection) be-came Messersmith’s fifth Blazer All-American, while the coach has also tutored eight all-region selections and 11 all-conference players at UAB. Serley (2010) and current assistant coach Casey Dent (three times; 2006-2008) also earned Academic All-District hon-ors under Messersmith’s guidance.

In 2009, Messersmith coached C-USA Newcomer of the Year Michelle Uzoh and All-Freshman team member Serley, who went on to earn second-team all-league honors in 2010. Messersmith led UAB to another winning season in 2009 with a 17-16 over-all record and a 9-7 mark in league play. Her 2010 team went 13-19 but closed with wins in its final five matches and eight of its last 11 to post a 10-10

kerry MESSERSMITHHead Coach || 7th Season

Chadron State, 1986


Volleyball2012

Coaching Staffleague mark and finish in the top half of the C-USA standings for the fifth consecutive season, every year of her tenure. UAB’s 13-7 mark in league in 2011 extended that streak to six straight years.

Her achievements at UAB are the latest in a long line of coaching successes and program turn-arounds. Messersmith owns an overall coaching record of 605-324 (.651), and she took over at UAB with a proven track record of resurrecting colle-giate volleyball programs.

Coming to the Blazers from Georgia Southern in December of 2005, Messersmith was the Eagles’ all-time winningest coach in her tenure at the Statesboro, Ga., school. She turned around a pro-gram that was 15-45 in the two seasons prior to her arrival in 2001.

The Casper, Wyo., native compiled an overall re-cord of 116-52 at GSU and was 75-17 in Southern Conference matches. Under Messersmith, the Eagles finished 21-11 and were 14-6 in SoCon play in 2001, her first season at GSU. That effort came only a year after Georgia Southern was 11-19 over-all and just 5-15 in league action.

For the 2002 and 2003 seasons, the Eagles were a combined 53-18 overall and 35-3 in conference matches. GSU won Southern Conference tourna-ment titles and earned NCAA tournament berths in 2001 and 2003, while also capturing the league’s regular season title in both 2002 and 2003.

Messersmith, who earned Southern Conference Coach of the Year honors during her time at GSU, coached four players to eight first-team all-confer-ence accolades in her five seasons with the Eagles. Four other GSU players earned second-team all-league honors during her tenure.

Her success at Georgia Southern was just another example of a program demonstrating a dramatic turnaround under her leadership. In fact, in her 23-year career as a head coach, she has guided six teams to substantial resurgences.Prior to taking over the Eagles’ program at GSU, Messersmith spent four seasons at Arizona West-ern College, where she took a program that won just four matches the season before she arrived to an eighth-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament four years later in 2000. The Matadors finished 15-23 during her first season but then im-proved to 33-19 in 1998. The success would contin-ue over the next two seasons as Arizona Western finished 38-13 in 1999 and 43-10 in Messersmith’s final year there.

Before her stint at Arizona Western, Messersmith coached for two years at her alma mater, Chadron State. She guided the school to a combined record of 46-29 over the 1994 and 1995 seasons.

Messersmith also helped lead huge turnarounds as head coach at Allen County (Kan.) Community College, Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College and Pittsburg State University. Her coaching career be-gan at Allen County CC in 1987. During her two sea-sons there, she compiled a mark of 61-23 and led the program to its first conference championship.

Messersmith is a 1986 graduate of Chadron State, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in educa-tion. Messersmith and her husband, Hal, have two daughters, Meghan and Brynnley, and reside in Vestavia Hills, Ala. Messersmith

By The Numbers

.645Winning percentage in sox years at UAB, the

highest for a coach in program history

605Career victories (compared to 324 losses)

131Wins in six years at UAB (compared to 112 in

the 10 years before her arrival)

21Winning seasons in 24 years as a head coach

920-win seasons in 11 years at the NCAA

Division I level

4NCAA tournament appearances, including the only two in UAB program history and two at

Georgia Southern

3Appearances in the C-USA Championship

finals in her first four years(tournament did not exist last two seasons)

Year-By-Year Record

Year School Record Pct.1987-88 Allen Co . CC 61-23 .7261989-90 Ft . Scott CC 63-25 .7161991 Pittsburg St . 22-19 .5371992 Pittsburg St . 19-22 .4631993 Pittsburg St . 18-17 .5141994 Chadron St . 23-12 .6571995 Chadron St . 23-17 .5751997 Ariz . Western CC 15-23 .3951998 Ariz . Western CC 33-19 .6351999 Ariz . Western CC 38-13 .7452000 Ariz . Western CC 43-10 .8112001 Ga . Southern 22-12 .6472002 Ga . Southern 26-9 .7432003 Ga . Southern 27-10 .7292004 Ga . Southern 20-10 .6672005 Ga . Southern 21-11 .6562006 UAB 27-10 .7302007 UAB 24-10 .7062008 UAB 27-8 .7712009 UAB 17-16 .5152010 UAB 13-19 .4062011 UAB 23-9 .719Total 24 seasons 605-324 .651

Messersmith celebrates 600th victory


Volleyball2012

Coaching Staff

A former four-year letterwinner for the UAB volleyball program, Casey Ouren enters her fourth season as an assistant coach with the Blaz-ers in 2012. In addition to on-court coaching, she is also charged with running the Kerry Messersmith Vol-leyball Camps at UAB and serving as an assistant coach for UAB’s sand volleyball program.

Ouren completed her playing career in 2008 with the second-highest career hitting percentage (.333) in school history. She also ranks ninth in school annals with 1,284 career kills.

“It’s always nice to have someone who has played for you as an as-sistant coach because they under-stand what you’re looking for,” UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith said. “Casey has a huge amount of loyalty to UAB because that’s where she earned her degree. We couldn’t be luckier to have Casey.”

Ouren has been a part of six win-ning seasons in her previous seven campaigns as a player and a coach, including three 20-win seasons dur-ing her playing career.

As a senior in 2008, Ouren posted a career-best .365 hitting percentage on her way to first-team All-Con-ference USA honors and honorable mention AVCA All-Midwest Re-gion recognition. She also was also named second-team all-conference as a junior in 2007.

Ouren helped the Blazers to 92 wins in her four seasons and was a part of UAB’s first Conference USA tour-nament title and NCAA tournament appearance in 2006. In 2008, she played a key role on another post-season team as the Blazers won their first ever NCAA tournament match.

A three-time Conference USA All-Academic Team selection, Ouren also achieved a high level of success

away from the court. She received ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors three times in her career, twice being named to the third team and once to the first team.

Ouren graduated in 2009 with a double major in financial manage-ment and financial investments and institutions and recently completed her master’s degree in sport admin-istration in the summer of 2012.

The former Casey Dent was married to Chris Ouren in January 2012. The couple is expecting their first child in January 2013.

casey OURENAssistant Coach || 4th Season

UAB, 2009

Bailey Coleman enters her first sea-son as an assistant coach at UAB for both the indoor and sand volleyball teams.

Coleman comes to Birmingham from the University of Montevallo, where she spent the pervious two seasons as an assistant coach un-der Katie O’Brien. While with the Falcons, she assisted in all aspects of coaching, including recruiting, travel and constructing scouting reports.

Her primary focus was the team’s defense and passing, which finished tops in the Peach Belt Conference in digs-per-set in both 2010 and 2011.

During the 2010 campaign, Monte-vallo finished an impressive 24-13 as the Falcons made their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and concluded the season in the na-

tion’s top 32 of all Division II pro-grams.

Prior to her two-year stint at Monte-vallo, Coleman served as a graduate assistant coach at Oklahoma City University, an NAIA school within the Sooner Athletic Conference.

The Stars went 33-8 in her first sea-son with the volleyball program, advancing to the SAC Tournament Semifinals. Beyond her regular coaching duties, Coleman was in charge of fundraising and monitor-ing the student-athletes in their academic progress.

Coleman concluded her two years at OCU by earning her Masters of Education, with a focus in Applied Behavioral Studies in June 2010.

Before embarking on her coaching career, Coleman was a four-year let-

terwinner in volleyball at Georgia Southern. She led the Eagles in digs (302) and digs-per-set (3.28) as a se-nior as she played both outside hit-ter and libero during her days as a student-athlete. She ranked second on the team in kills as a sophomore and finished her career with 1,108 digs, 858 kills and 60 service aces. Her career dig total ranks fourth all-time at GSU.

Coleman was recruited and played her first two seasons at GSU un-der current UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith, prior to Messersmith leaving to coach the Blazers in 2006.

A native of Awendaw, S.C., Cole-man earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from GSU in 2008 and was a member of the Dean’s List, Southern Conference Honor Roll and President of the Student Ath-letic Advisory Board.

bailey COLEMANAssistant Coach || 1st Season

Georgia Southern, 2008


Volleyball2012

Coaching Staff

Hal Messersmith enters his seventh season as a member of the UAB vol-leyball staff in 2012, having held the titles both of volunteer assistant coach and director of volleyball op-erations. In the spring, Messersmith serves as the Blazers’ head coach for the sand volleyball program, which finished its inaugural season in 2012.

At UAB, Messersmith has been a part of the most successful span in program history, helping the Blazers to four 20-win seasons and two ap-pearances in the NCAA tournament in his six years with the program.

Messersmith has worked with his wife, UAB head coach Kerry Mess-ersmith, for the past 11 seasons. He spent five years with her on the staff at Georgia Southern prior to arriving at UAB in 2006.

“He has 25-plus years experience of coaching several different sports, but he’s been coaching volleyball

for the last 10 and does a great job,” Kerry Messersmith said. “He studies the game and knows the game very well and technically is very sound. He’s constantly studying the game. He watches film every day. He’ll do a lot of scouting of opponents and gameplanning.”

Additionally, Messersmith oversees the academic and financial aid as-pects of the program. He organizes team travel and facilities scheduling while also coordinating all video op-erations for the Blazers.

In the sand he coached the Blazers to a 6-4 record in dual competi-tion in the sports first season as an emerging sport under the NCAA. In fact, UAB made history on March 3, 2012 when the Blazers hosted Flori-da State in the first-ever sanctioned collegiate sand volleyball contest.

The Blazers as a team just missed out from qualifying for the AVCA National Championship in the first

year of the program, but under the watch of Messersmith, UAB did send Heather Thomas and Kirsten Gallagher as one of 32 pairs to com-pete in the AVCA Pairs Champion-ship.

In addition to his 11 seasons in collegiate volleyball, Messersmith has nearly 20 years of head coach-ing experience in college football, baseball and basketball. From the mid-1980s through 2001, he posted 17 winning seasons in those sports while graduating 95 percent of his student-athletes.

Messersmith’s coaching experience includes stops at Chadron State, Al-len County (Kan.) Community Col-lege, Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College and Arizona Western Col-lege.

hal MESSERSMITHDirector of Operations || 7th Season

Chadron State, 1986

Shawn Matthews enters his first season as a volunteer assistant coach at UAB for both the indoor and sand volleyball teams.

Matthews comes to Birmingham after spending the last five seasons at Spain Park HS (Hoover, Ala.) as head junior varsity and assistant varsity coach under Paula Dill.

During his time with the Jaguars, his primary duties included attack, block and setter training, helped the program reach the 2008 sub-state playoffs and a 25-win season. In the high school off-season, he was active in the local club volley-ball scene, training athletes of all ages, while guiding his teams to top -10 regional finishes each year.

Matthews began his coaching ca-reer in Odessa, Texas at the local youth league, private school and club levels, and it culminated at the University of Texas-Permian Basin with a position as the volunteer as-sistant in 1999. Under the mentor-ship of Steve Aicinena, Matthews was given both team offensive and defensive responsibilities, includ-ing serving, attacking and block-ing, as well as statistical reporting duties. During that same year the UTPB Lady Falcons earned a 23-12 sea-son record and achieved its first-ever Red River Athletic Conference championship in the program’s school history of NAIA division competition.

In 2001, while attending college in Abilene, Texas, Matthews began his competitive volleyball career play-ing for Dyess Air Force Base as a middle blocker.

He has won and participated in both indoor and outdoor compe-titions all over the U.S. from New York to California and overseas in-cluding Italy, France, and England, and most recently has been a 2012 adult national indoors team finalist.

A native of Odessa, Texas, Mat-thews earned his B.A in Financial Management from Abilene Chris-tian in 2004.

shawn MATTHEWSVolunteer Assistant || 1st Season

Abilene Christian, 2004


Volleyball2012

Returning Players

CAREER STATISTICS Season SP-MP K K/S E TA Pct A A/S SA SA/S SE DIG D/S RE BS BA TB B/S BE BHE Points Pts/S2010 56-22 24 0 .43 23 122 .008 6 0 .11 5 0 .09 16 115 2 .05 11 0 1 1 0 .02 1 0 29 .5 0 .522011 8-6 11 1 .38 7 57 .070 1 0 .12 0 0 .00 4 18 2 .25 2 0 1 1 0 .12 0 0 11 .5 1 .38TOTAL 64-28 35 0.55 30 179 .028 7 0.11 5 0.08 20 133 2.08 13 0 2 2 0.03 1 0 41.0 0.64

Career Highs

rachel FAIRBANKS5-8 || Jr. || L/OH

Katy, Texas || Cinco Ranch HS

4AS A SOPHOMORE (2011)A reserve off the UAB bench, she competed in six matches totaling eight sets ... started against Akron, UTEP and South-ern Miss ... averaged 1.38 kills and 2.25 digs per set ... rock-eted a career-high six kills on 12 attacks with only two errors in just one set of game action on Oct. 28 at SMU ... posted a career-best 12 digs in a 3-0 sweep of UTEP on Nov. 5 ... member of the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

AS A FRESHMAN (2010)Played in 22 matches with five starts ... tallied 115 digs (2.05 per set) ... also managed 24 kills ... reached double-digit digs four times, including a season-high 11 on Sept. 3 against Toledo ... posted a season-best five kills Aug. 28 at Georgia Tech ... named to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

HIGH SCHOOLRecognized with third-team all-state honors as a senior in 2009 ... helped Cinco Ranch High School to a regional championship and a third-place finish in the Texas 5A state tournament ... coached by Tammy Laurence ... a two-year letterwinner ... recorded 364 kills and 325 digs as a senior ... earned first-team all-district honors and second-team all-region recognition from the Houston Chronicle ... a member of the National Honor Society ... qualified for the Junior Olympics three times and helped her club team to an 11th-place national finish.

PERSONALRachel Ann Fairbanks ... born May 4, 1992 in Houston, Texas ... daughter of Mike and Cindy Fairbanks ... has one brother, Andrew ... majoring in philosophy.

Kills 6 at SMU (10/28/11) Total Attempts 32 vs . UTEP (11/5/11) Attack Percentage (5 kills) .043 (5-4-23) at Ga . Tech (8/28/10) Assists 2, 2x, last vs . USM (10/31/10) Service Aces 2 vs . Toledo (9/3/10) Total Blocks 1, 2x, last vs . UTEP (11/5/11) Digs 12 vs . UTEP (11/5/11)


Volleyball2012

Returning Players

CAREER STATISTICS Season SP-MP K K/S E TA Pct A A/S SA SA/S SE DIG D/S RE BS BA TB B/S BE BHE Points Pts/S2009 16-11 14 0 .88 7 55 .127 3 0 .19 1 0 .06 3 17 1 .06 2 0 4 4 0 .25 0 0 17 .0 1 .062010 49-17 49 1 .00 13 139 .259 12 0 .24 0 0 .00 2 27 0 .55 1 1 35 36 0 .73 3 1 67 .5 1 .372011 93-30 114 1 .23 29 306 .278 12 0 .13 14 0 .15 11 72 0 .77 0 18 77 95 1 .02 12 0 184 .5 1 .98 TOTAL 158-58 177 1.12 49 500 .256 27 0.17 15 0.09 16 116 0.73 3 19 116 135 0.85 15 1 269.0 1.70

Career Highs

Kills 12 vs . Arkansas St . (8/26/11) Total Attempts 24 vs . Rice (10/23/11) Attack Percentage (5 kills) .500 (12-1-22) vs . Arkansas St . (8/26/11) Assists 4 vs . UTEP (11/19/10) Service Aces 2, 3x, last at Marshall (11/20/11) Total Blocks 9, 2x, last vs . Marshall (10/8/11) Digs 9, vs . Stephen F . Austin (9/3/11)

kirsten GALLAGHER6-2 || Sr. || MB/OPP

Auburn, Ala. || Auburn HS

AS A JUNIOR (2011)Started and played in 30 matches for a total of 93 sets ... finished second on the squad in total blocks with 95 (18 solo, 77 assists) ... blocks per set average of 1.02 ranked ninth-best in C-USA ... average improved in league contests at 1.15, ranking sixth in the conference ... hitting percentage of .278 placed second on the team and 12th in the conference ... laced 114 kills on 306 errors, while committing just 29 errors ... added 72 digs and 14 service aces ... did not commit an error during a four-match span (Sept. 9-Sept. 16), lacing 30 total kills on 50 attacks (.600) ... in 24 of 30 matches committed less than two errors ... collected four-or-more blocks 10 times ... connected for a career-high 12 kills and added seven digs and six blocks vs. Arkansas State on Aug. 26 ... registered a career-best hitting clip of .800 (8k-0e-10ta) on Sept. 10 at Kennesaw State ... posted a career-high nine blocks vs. Marshall on Sept. 23 ... hit at a .727 (8k-0e-11ta) clip on Nov. 18 at East Carolina ... earned C-USA Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 26 ... member of the Conference USA Commis-sioner’s Honor Roll.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2010)Saw action in 17 matches with six starts ... started the last four con-tests of the season ... came on strong down the stretch, averaging 1.78 kills and 1.39 blocks per set over the final five matches ... hit for a .365 percentage over that stretch ... finished the year with aver-ages of 1.00 kills and 0.73 blocks per frame ... posted a career-high 11 kills Nov. 21 against UCF ... managed back-to-back career-bests in blocks in the season’s final two contests with 6.0 on Nov. 24 against Memphis and 8.0 three days later on the road against the same Tigers squad ... finished the season with a .259 attack percentage and also added 27 digs ... named to the Conference USA Commis-sioner’s Honor Roll.

AS A FRESHMAN (2009)Appeared in 11 matches, mostly in a reserve role ... posted a season-high five kills Sept. 4 versus Alcorn State ... managed three kills on two other occasions ... recorded a season-best six digs Oct. 23 at Tulane ... tallied two blocks Aug. 28 against Alabama A&M.

REDSHIRT SEASON (2008)Redshirted in her first season at UAB ... named to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

HIGH SCHOOLWas a four-year letterwinner at Auburn High School ... named to the 2007 Alabama All-State Second Team after being a first-team selec-tion in 2006 ... was the 2006 Opelika-Auburn News Volleyball Player of the Year ... earned 2005 Alabama All-State honorable mention honors ... was the 2005 Auburn Tiger Defensive Player of the Year ... was a two-year captain of the Tigers.

PERSONALKirsten Ann Gallagher ... born July 27, 1990 ... daughter of Tom and Lisa Gallagher ... has two sisters, Jennifer and Caitlin ... majoring in business administration (management).

6


Volleyball2012

Returning Players

CAREER STATISTICS Season SP-MP K K/S E TA Pct A A/S SA SA/S SE DIG D/S RE BS BA TB B/S BE BHE Points Pts/S2011 40-19 44 1 .10 13 118 .263 2 0 .05 1 0 .03 10 20 0 .50 0 14 48 62 1 .55 6 0 83 .0 2 .08TOTAL 40-19 44 1.10 13 118 .263 2 0.05 1 0.03 10 20 0.50 0 14 48 62 1.55 6 0 83.0 2.08

Career Highs

kiriana HIRINI6-1 || So. || MB

Tauranga, New Zealand || Long Beach St.

21AS A REDSHIRT FRESHMAN (2011)One of the top reserves off the bench for the Blazers ... a spark for Coach Messersmith in the front row ... competed in 40 sets over the course of 19 matches, making three starts ... totaled 44 kills and averaged 1.10 per stanza ... hit .263 (44k-13e-118ta) for the season ... totaled a season-high four kills in five matches ... accounted for an impressive 62 total blocks, with 14 solo swats for a 1.55 per frame average ... added 20 digs ... posted 4.0 or more blocks in eight contests ... in first collegiate game posted four kills, hit .500 (4k-0e-8ta) and added 5.0 blocks in a 3-1 win at UT Martin on Sept. 2 ... tallied 8.0 swats, including a career-high three solo blocks, in only two sets in a five-set win at Southern Miss on Oct. 2 ... stonewalled the UTEP offense with a career-best 10.0 blocks in a four-set win on Nov. 6 ... was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 3 ... first UAB player to ever earn American Volleyball Scouting Report (AVSR) Global Player of the Week on Nov. 7 ... member of the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

REDSHIRT SEASON (2010 AT LONG BEACH STATE)Attended Long Beach State but sat out her first collegiate season as a redshirt.

HIGH SCHOOLAttended Bethlehem College in Tauranga, New Zealand ... led Bethlehem to three straight top 10 finishes in New Zealand’s Division I high school national championships, including an appearance in the finals as a senior ... played on New Zealand’s junior national teams for both indoor and beach volleyball ... competed in the 2009 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Junior World Championships in Turkey ... played on the New Zealand Beach Volleyball Tour ... won a national club championship with the Tauranga women’s club team ... a three-sport athlete at Bethlehem, who also excelled in swimming and netball, a variant of basketball.

PERSONALKiriana Elizabeth Hirini ... born Jan. 8, 1992 in England ... daughter of John and Jane Hirini ... has one brother, Sonny ... majoring in philosophy.

Kills 4, 5x, last vs . Tulane (11/13/11) Total Attempts 16, vs . Tulane (11/13/11) Attack Percentage (5 kills) N/A Assists 1, 2x, last vs . UTEP (11/6/11) Service Aces 1, vs . UTEP (11/6/11) Total Blocks 10, vs . UTEP (11/6/11) Digs 7, vs . UTEP (11/6/11)


Volleyball2012

Returning Players

Career Highs

becca HOWARD5-9 || Jr. || S

Tampa, Fla. || Plant HS

Closing in 1,000 career assists with 873 through two sea-sons.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2011)Saw game action in every set (118) and match (32) of the season ... split setting duties with teammate Alison Woods running the 6-2 offense ... recorded 533 assists for the sea-son for a per set average of 4.52 ... recorded 10 or more help-ers in 28 of 32 matches ... surpassed the 20-assist mark nine times ... recorded 198 total digs for a 1.68 per set average ... tallied eight double-doubles ... laced 19 service aces ... dis-tributed a season-high 25 assists on two occasions, the last on Sept. 3 vs. Stephen F. Austin ... corralled a season-best 12 digs on Sept. 30 at Tulane ... member of the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

AS A FRESHMAN (2010)Played in 25 matches ... spent two-thirds of the season in a rotation with fellow setter Alison Woods as part of a 6-2 offensive attack ... also saw action in several matches solely as a defensive specialist ... dished out 340 assists (3.78 per set) ... topped 25 assists in a match three times, including a season-best 34 assists Oct. 1 against East Carolina ... record-ed two double-doubles - 14 assists and 10 digs Aug. 28 versus Indiana and 30 assists and 13 digs Sept. 25 against SMU ... had seven other matches with at least 10 assists and at least seven digs ... finished the year with 145 digs (1.61 per set) ... led the team with a .963 serve percentage and nearly as many aces (10) as service errors (11) ... named to the Confer-ence USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

HIGH SCHOOLHelped Plant High School to back-to-back state champion-ships, one in Florida’s Class 5A in 2008 and one in Class 6A in 2009 ... coached by Leanna Taylor ... a three-time all-county performer and twice an honorable mention all-state selec-tion ... chosen as an Under Armour All-American as a senior ... averaged 10.9 assists per game in 2009 ... selected as a finalist for both the Gatorade Player of the Year in Florida and the PrepVolleyball.com Andi Collins Award for the best setter in the country ... also guided Berkeley Prep to a pair of state tournament appearances before transferring to Plant ... member of the National Honor Society and Social Studies Honor Society ... played in four Junior Olympics ... helped her Florida High Performance team to a third-place national finish ... her Tampa Bay Juniors team won a 15-Under Junior National Championship.

PERSONALRebecca Jane Howard ... born Jan. 1, 1992 in Tampa, Fla. ... daughter of George and Beth Howard ... has two brothers, Jason and Trey ... business with a minor in medical technol-ogy.

3

Kills 1, 3x, last vs . Rice (10/23/11) Total Attempts 5 vs . SMU (9/25/10) Attack Percentage (5 kills) N/A Assists 34 vs . East Carolina (10/1/10) Service Aces 3 at Memphis (11/27/10) Total Blocks N/A Digs 13, vs . SMU (9/25/10)

CAREER STATISTICS Season SP-MP K K/S E TA Pct A A/S SA SA/S SE DIG D/S RE BS BA TB B/S BE BHE Points Pts/S2010 90-25 1 0 .01 6 22 - .227 340 3 .78 10 0 .11 11 145 1 .61 4 0 0 0 0 .00 0 4 11 .0 0 .122011 118-32 4 0 .03 3 14 .071 533 4 .52 19 0 .16 18 198 1 .68 1 0 0 0 0 .00 0 3 23 .0 0 .19TOTAL 208-57 5 0.02 9 36 -.111 873 4.20 29 0.14 29 343 1.65 5 0 0 0 0.00 0 7 34.0 0.16


Volleyball2012

Returning Players

mariah McCALLUM5-5 || R-Fr. || L/DS

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. || Nease HS

12AS A FRESHMAN (2011)Redshirt ... member of the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

HIGH SCHOOLPlayed three seasons at Nease High School, where she was a Florida High School Athletic Association All-State selec-tion every year ... a Gatorade Player of the Year nominee as a senior ... logged more than 2,100 digs for her career ... earned Florida Times-Union All-Area, St. Augustine Record All-County and All-St. John’s River Conference honors three times each ... led Nease to three conference titles, three dis-trict championships and the Florida Class 4A state champion-ship as a sophomore in 2008 ... a PrepVolleyball.com Super Sophomore 79 selection in 2008 ... listed multiple times on the PrepVolleyball.com “Defensive Dandies” list ... played her freshman season in 2007 at Episcopal High School in Jacksonville, Fla., and helped her team to the Class 3A state semifinals ... a PrepVolleyball.com Academic All-American as a senior ... graduated from high school a semester early in December 2010 ... member of the National Honor Soci-ety and United States Achievement Academy ... guided her Jacksonville Juniors club team to first place in the American Gold Division at the 2010 USA Volleyball National Champion-ships, where she was named to the all-tournament team ... involved in the USA Volleyball High Performance program ... played around the world in places such as Nicaragua, Greece and Barbados as part of Bring It Promotions, an organization that conducts international volleyball tours.

PERSONALMariah Jordan McCallum ... born Feb. 27, 1993 in Jackson-ville, Fla. ... daughter of John and Linda McCallum ... has one sister, Taelar ... major health care management.

Career Highs

Kills N/A Total Attempts N/A Attack Percentage (5 kills) N/A Assists N/A Service Aces N/A Total Blocks N/A Digs N/A


Volleyball2012

Returning Players

kate MORRELL6-0 || Sr. || OH

Ogallala, Neb. || Hutchinson C.C.

AS A JUNIOR (2011)Started and competed in 31 of UAB’s 32 matches ... saw the court in 100 total sets ... ended the season in second on UAB in kills with 281 ... 2.81 kills per set average topped the club and ranked 19th in C-USA ... totaled 284 digs for a per set average of 2.84 ... even better in league games at 2.97 kills per set, ranking 17th ... tied with Alison Woods for a team-best 12 double-doubles ... added 44 total blocks and 25 service aces ... ace total was one off the team-high ... reached double-digit kills 17 times ... collected 10-plus digs in 15 matches ... had a 17-kill, 18-dig outing at UCF on Oct. 8 ... rocketed a career-high 21 kills at a personal-best .517 (21k-1e-35ta) clip on Nov. 20 at Marshall ... the 21 kills at Marshall were the most by a UAB player in 2011 ... named to the Kennesaw State Owls Classic all-tournament team.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2010)Played in 31 of UAB’s 32 matches with 27 starts in her first season with the Blazers ... ranked in the top four on the team in digs, kills and blocks - third with 199 digs (1.99 per set), fourth with 201 kills (2.01 per set) and fourth with 42 blocks (0.42 per set) ... tied with Alison Woods for the team-lead in service aces with 23 ... recorded two double-doubles - 10 kills and 17 digs Sept. 18 versus UTSA; 11 kills and 11 digs Nov. 5 at Houston ... her 11 kills against the Cougars matched her season-high set Oct. 3 at Marshall ... posted four match-es with double-figure kills and reached nine kills six other times ... managed double-digit digs on 10 occasions, includ-ing a season-best 20 digs Nov. 21 against UCF.

AS A FRESHMAN (2009)AT HUTCHINSON [KAN.] COMMUNITY COLLEGEA second-team all-conference performer in 2009 ... averaged 2.14 kills per set and 1.22 blocks per frame ... helped her team to a ninth-place finish at the 2009 NJCAA Championship ... posted more blocks than any other player at the national tournament ... a Dean’s List selection.

HIGH SCHOOLA four-year letterwinner at Ogallala High School for head coach Steve Morgan... a four-time all-area player ... selected as a second-team all-state performer and area player of the year as a senior in 2008 ... member of the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society.

PERSONALKatharine Zola Morrell ... born Feb. 28, 1991 in Ogallala, Neb. ... daughter of Bud and Kim Morrell ... has two brothers, Nick and Nate ... majoring in communications with a minor in marketing.

7

Career Highs

Kills 21 at Marshall (11/20/11) Total Attempts 57 at UCF (10/8/11) Attack Percentage (5 kills) .571 (21-1-35) at Marshall (11/20/11) Assists 3 vs . Akron (8/26/11) Service Aces 4 at Houston (11/5/11) Total Blocks 4, 2x last vs . Akron (8/26/11) Digs 20 vs . UCF (11/21/10)

CAREER STATISTICS Season SP-MP K K/S E TA Pct A A/S SA SA/S SE DIG D/S RE BS BA TB B/S BE BHE Points Pts/S2010 100-31 201 2 .01 103 707 .139 10 0 .10 23 0 .23 30 199 1 .99 22 5 37 42 0 .42 11 1 247 .5 2 .472011 100-31 281 2 .81 105 1000 .176 9 0 .09 25 0 .25 37 284 2 .84 36 3 41 44 0 .44 9 0 329 .5 3 .29 TOTAL 200-62 482 2.41 208 1707 .161 19 0.09 48 0.24 67 483 2.41 58 8 78 86 0.43 20 1 577.0 2.88


Volleyball2012

Returning Players

CAREER STATISTICS Season SP-MP K K/S E TA Pct A A/S SA SA/S SE DIG D/S RE BS BA TB B/S BE BHE Points Pts/S2011 113-32 206 1 .82 71 546 .247 4 0 .04 0 0 .00 0 39 0 .35 1 8 80 88 0 .78 16 0 254 .0 2 .25 TOTAL 113-32 206 1.82 71 546 .247 4 0.04 0 0.00 0 39 0.35 1 8 80 88 0.78 16 0 254.0 2.25

ashley RICKS6-3 || So. || OPP

New Washington, Ind. || Our Lady of Providence

14AS A FRESHMAN (2011)Made 15 starts and played in all 32 matches for a total of 113 sets ... surpassed the 200-kill plateau on the season with 206 ... averaged 1.82 kills per set ... overall attacking clip (.247) placed 19th in the league ... totaled 88 blocks ... averaged 0.78 swats per stanza ... blocked even better per set in league play at 0.85 ranking 17th ... tied for a C-USA best with a career-high 12 block assists on Nov. 6 vs. UTEP ... reached double figures in kills four times ... tallied four-or-more blocks in a match on nine occasions ... added 39 digs ... posted eight kills and four blocks in collegiate debut vs. Akron on Aug. 26 ... standout performance against Tulsa on Oct. 30 tying a career-high with 12 kills on a .524 (12k-1e-21ta) attacking clip ... hit .476 (11k-1e-21ta) in a four-set victory vs. Rice on Oct. 23.

HIGH SCHOOLA four-year letterwinner at Our Lady of Providence High School for coach Terri Purichia ... an Indiana Class 2A All-State First Team performer ... set the Pioneers’ school record with 406 kills as a senior in 2010 ... led her team with a .451 attack percentage, 73 blocks and 56 service aces ... named one of the top 250 seniors in the country by PrepVolleyball.com ... selected twice as an AAU and Junior Volleyball Asso-ciation All-American ... played at the club level for Union Volleyball Club, coached by Lesley Prather.

PERSONALAshley Elizabeth Ricks ... born May 29, 1993 in Jackson, Mich. ... daughter of Scott Ricks and Michelle McCutcheon ... has one sister, Caroline ... health care management.

Career Highs

Kills 12, 2x, last at Tulsa (10/30/11) Total Attempts 31 at Tulane (9/30/11) Attack Percentage (5 kills) .524 (12-1-21) at Tulsa (10/30/11) Assists 2 vs . Stephen F . Austin (9/3/11) Service Aces N/A Total Blocks 12 vs . UTEP (11/6/11) Digs 4 vs . Memphis (11/23/11)


Volleyball2012

Returning Players

CAREER STATISTICS Season SP-MP K K/S E TA Pct A A/S SA SA/S SE DIG D/S RE BS BA TB B/S BE BHE Points Pts/S2009 101-31 279 2 .76 91 606 .310 5 0 .05 18 0 .18 28 33 0 .33 1 20 77 97 0 .96 3 2 355 .5 3 .512010 118-32 333 2 .82 100 732 .318 9 0 .08 20 0 .17 35 57 0 .48 1 36 92 128 1 .08 9 0 435 .0 3 .692011 118-32 287 2 .43 77 598 .351 7 0 .06 3 0 .03 6 24 0 .20 0 33 121 154 1 .31 9 0 383 .5 3 .25 TOTAL 337-95 899 2.67 268 1936 .326 21 0.06 41 0.12 69 114 0.34 2 89 290 379 1.12 21 2 1174.0 3.48

sam SERLEY6-2 || Sr. || MB

Nashville, Tenn. || Independence HSEnters the season ranking in the top 25 in Conference USA history in career hitting percentage (.326/16th), blocks per set (1.12/22nd) and total blocks (379/24th) ... ranks in the top 10 in UAB history for career hitting percentage (3rd), total blocks (4th), block assists (6th) and solo blocks (7th).

AS A JUNIOR (2011): Started all 32 matches and participated in all 118 sets ... finished third in the conference in overall hitting percentage (.351) and blocks per set (1.31) ... ranked 29th in blocks per set and 42nd in hitting percentage out of all Division I student-athletes ... concluded the year in the top 10 in UAB single season records for block assists (121/3rd), total blocks (154/4th) and attacking percentage (.351/6th) ... recorded first two double-doubles of career - vs. Illinois State (15k, 10b) and vs. Eastern Kentucky (10k, 10b) ... the 10-block outings marked career-highs ... totaled a team-high 287 kills ... averaged 2.43 kills per set ... posted 14 matches in double-digit kills ... produced 15 matched of five-or-more blocks ... stonewalled opponents with 33 solo blocks and 121 block assists ... captured first-ever C-USA Offensive Player of the Week award on Oct. 10 ... rocketed a season-high 20 kills, including six in the fifth set of a victory at UCF on Oct. 8 ... registered a C-USA-best hitting percentage of .750 (16k-1e-20ta) on Sept. 30 in a five-set win at Tulane...named to all-tournament teams at the Creighton Classic, First State Skyhawk Invitational and Kennesaw State Owls Classic (MVP) ... earned a spot on the C-USA All-Academic Team, commissioner’s honor roll and the academic medal ... C-USA Spirit of Service Award recipient.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2010): Became the third player in UAB history to earn hon-orable mention All-America honors from the AVCA ... also an AVCA All-Region selection and second-team All-Conference USA performer ... tabbed to the C-USA All-Academic Team, as well ... the only UAB player to start all 32 matches ... led the Blazers and ranked third in C-USA with 128 total blocks (1.08 per set) ... posted 36 solo blocks, the most by a Blazer since 1995, to rank ninth on the school’s single-season list ... topped UAB and ranked ninth in the league with a .318 attack per-centage, the ninth-best single-season mark in school history ... also led the team with 333 kills (2.82 per set) ... finished second on the squad with 20 service aces ... posted double-digit kills in 16 matches and managed at least 14 kills 10 times ... racked up a career-high 23 kills Sept. 11 in a five-set win over Arkansas ... had nine matches with an attack percentage better than .400 ... tallied 13 matches with at least 5.0 blocks ... reached a season-high 8.0 blocks three times - Oct. 3 at Marshall, Oct. 15 versus Rice and Oct. 22 at UCF ... had a nine-match stretch from Oct. 10 through Nov. 6 where she averaged 3.37 kills and 1.37 blocks per set while hitting at a .360 rate ... named to the all-tournament team at Georgia Tech’s Courtyard Marriott Classic (Aug. 27-28) ... selected to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and received the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal.

AS A FRESHMAN (2009): A Conference USA All-Freshman Team selection ... played in 31 matches with 26 starts ... ranked seventh in C-USA in attack percentage (.310) and 11th in blocks per set (0.96) ... part of a unit that helped make UAB the third-best blocking team in the league ... finished second on the team with 279 kills (2.76 per set) ... reached double-digit kills in 10 matches ... had a season-high 19 kills twice - Sept. 17 at Memphis and Sept. 27 against Rice ... managed 18 kills on two other occasions ... led UAB in kills for six straight matches from Sept. 12-22 ... hit for a percentage of .350 or better in 12 contests ... posted at least five blocks in eight matches ... set a season-high with nine blocks twice - Sept. 5 vs. Milwaukee and Nov. 14 against Memphis ... selected to all-tournament teams at the Tiger Invi-tational in Memphis (Sept. 18-19) and the War Eagle Invitational at Auburn (Aug. 28-29) ... named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

HIGH SCHOOL: Played at Independence High School for coach Stephanie Prewitt ... led Independence to a state championship in 2008 on her way to all-state recogni-tion ... also named region MVP her senior year ... a two-time all-midstate selection and a three-time all-district honoree ... named one of PrepVolleyball.com’s Top 79 Sophomores in 2006 and selected a PrepVolleyball.com Senior Ace in 2008 ... played at the club level for Impact Volleyball Club in the Nashville area, where she was a teammate of fellow Blazer Alison Woods ... led Impact to a pair of national championships and was chosen as the JOVC MVP in 2006 ... graduated with honors from Independence, where she was a member of the Principal’s List and the High Honor Roll.

PERSONAL: Samantha Lilly Serley ... born Dec. 14, 1990 in Syracuse, N.Y. ... daughter of Bob and Dee Serley ... has one brother, Zach ... majoring in health care manage-ment with a minor in accounting.

22011 Awards

AVCA All-American Honorable Mention (two-time selection)

AVCA All-Midwest Region (two-time selection)

First TeamAll-C-USA

Career Highs

Kills 23 vs . Arkansas (9/11/10) Total Attempts 38 vs . Southern Miss (10/31/10) Attack Percentage (5 kills) .750 (16-1-20) at Tulane (9/30/11) Assists 3 vs . Alabama A&M (8/28/09) Service Aces 3 vs . Houston (9/25/09) Total Blocks 10, 2x, last vs . EKU (9/10/11) Digs 7 vs . UTSA (9/18/10)


Volleyball2012

Returning Players

lindsay SIMMONS6-0 || R-Fr. || MB/OH

Danville, Ala. || Danville HS

11AS A FRESHMAN (2011)Redshirt ... named to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

HIGH SCHOOLPlayed five years at Danville High School, joining the varsity team as an eighth grader ... a three-time all-state selection in Alabama’s Class 3A ... led Danville to five state tournament appearances, including three trips to the final four ... a four-time all-county, all-area and all-region selection ... a versatile player who finished her prep career with 2,532 kills, 322 blocks, 354 aces and 610 digs ... valedictorian of her senior class ... a three-time recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Academic Award.

PERSONALLindsay Shea Simmons ... born Oct. 6, 1992 in Danville, Ala. ... daughter of Alan and Cindy Simmons ... has one sister, Lauren ... majoring in liberal arts. Career Highs



Volleyball2012

Returning Players


michele SIMMONS6-3 || Sr. || OH

Alabaster, Ala. || Univ. of Georgia

AS A JUNIOR (2011)Competed in all 32 matches and made 16 starts ... saw game action in 115 of 118 sets ... just shy of 200 kills for the sea-son with 193 ... connected for 1.68 kills per frame ... hit at a .236 attacking clip for the season ... totaled 71 swats and 22 digs ... five matches of 10-plus kills ... hit .400 or better in eight matches ... recorded seven matches with four-or-more blocks ... tied a career-high with 13 kills vs. Marshall on a .458 (13k-2e-24ta) hitting clip in a victory on Sept. 23 ... registered a career-best .600 (12k-0e-20ta) attacking per-centage in a four-set win at Creighton on Sept. 17 ... swatted a career-best seven blocks at Kennesaw State on Sept. 10 ... hit .467 with seven kills on 15 attacks with no errors in a 3-1 victory over UTEP on Nov. 6.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2010)Played in 24 matches with five starts in her first season at UAB ... ranked fourth on the team with a 0.65 blocks-per-set average ... also managed 1.61 kills per frame ... reached dou-ble-figure kills four times and posted a season-best 13 kills Nov. 19 against UTEP ... hit for a season-high .522 percentage in that match with just one error in 23 total attempts ... col-lected a season-high 7.0 blocks Oct. 22 at UCF and reached 6.0 blocks in two other matches.

AS A FRESHMAN (2009 AT GEORGIA)Saw her first college action in 2009 after redshirting during her first collegiate season in 2008 ... played in 23 matches, tallying 49 kills and 12 blocks ... earned Dean’s List honors during Georgia’s 2009 Maymester.

HIGH SCHOOLA standout at Thompson High School for coach Carla Ragland ... a two-time all-state and all-county performer ... named her team’s offensive MVP for three years ... selected to USA Volleyball’s Youth National A2 Team in 2007 ... was named a PrepVolleyball.com Senior Ace in 2008 as one of the top 250 players in the country.

PERSONALErin Michele Simmons ... born Jan. 3, 1990 in Louisville, Ky. ... daughter of Vincent and Rosalind Simmons ... has two sisters, Kristyn and Lauren ... majoring in communications with an emphasis in public relations.

20

Career Highs

Kills 13, 2x, last vs . Marshall (9/23/11) Total Attempts 32, 2x, last vs . Arkansas St . (8/26/11) Attack Percentage (5 kills) .600 (12-0-20) at Creighton (9/17/11) Assists 3 vs . Memphis (11/24/10) Service Aces N/A Total Blocks 7, 2x, last vs . Kennesaw St . (9/10/11) Digs 2, 6x, last vs . Troy (9/9/11)


Volleyball2012

Returning Players

sam SKINNER5-10 || R-Fr. || MB/OH

Birmingham, Ala. || Oak Mountain HS

33AS A FRESHMAN (2011)Redshirt.

HIGH SCHOOLA local product from Oak Mountain High School ... played her final two seasons for coach Tammy Richardson ... named the Birmingham News Metro Player of the Year and Shelby Coun-ty Reporter Player of the Year as a senior in 2010 ... helped Oak Mountain to back-to-back final eight appearances in the state tournament as a junior and senior, including a runner-up finish in 2010 ... selected to the state all-tournament team in 2010 ... led all players in the Birmingham area her senior year with 808 kills (4.7 per game) ... also posted 74 blocks, 395 digs and 41 aces in her final campaign ... named to the 6A All-State Second Team as a junior in 2009 by the Alabama Volleyball Coaches Association ... competed in the 2009 AAU Nationals with her team from the Birmingham Vol-leyball Club.

PERSONALSamantha Drake Skinner ... born Sept. 17, 1992 in Birming-ham, Ala. ... daughter of Wendy Skinner ... has a sister Ziva ... majoring in health related programs.

Career Highs



Volleyball2012

Returning Players


ally SLAUGHTER5-10 || Jr. || OH

Pelham, Ala. || Pelham HS

AS A SOPHOMORE (2011)Started 26 matches and participated in 29 for the season ... took the court in 99 total sets ... finished with 236 kills and 246 digs en route to nine double-doubles ... averaged 2.48 digs and 2.38 kills per set ... collected 29 blocks and 14 service aces ... reached 10 or more kills in a match 11 times ... in 13 matches corralled double figure dig totals ... lined a career-best 15 kills in a double-double effort vs. Illinois State on Sept. 2 ... posted a career-high 21 digs on Sept. 23 against Marshall ... laced three service aces at Creighton on Sept. 17 ... posted double-doubles in three of her last five matches.

AS A FRESHMAN (2010)Selected to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team ... played in 29 matches with 24 starts ... ranked third on the team with a 2.14 kills-per-set average ... also chipped in 1.40 digs per frame ... played her best over the second half of the season, upping her kills-per-set average to 2.54 over the final 14 matches ... recorded all seven of her double-digit kill perfor-mances during that stretch ... posted a season-best 14 kills twice, both in five-set wins over Rice - Oct. 15 in Birmingham and Nov. 6 in Houston ... recorded a double-double in the Oct. 15 contest by matching her season-high with 10 digs ... had three other matches with double-figure kills and at least eight digs ... finished the year with 11 service aces ... named to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

HIGH SCHOOLPlayed locally for coach Kim Kiel at Pelham High School ... helped the Panthers to a pair of Elite Eight appearances in the state tournament during her career ... earned first-team Class 6A all-state honors from the Alabama Volleyball Coach-es Association as a senior in 2009 ... averaged double-digit kills and finished with a team-best 498 on the year for her senior campaign ... also added 260 digs and 106 service aces ... named all-county and garnered Player of the Year honors from the Shelby County Reporter ... finished her career with more than 1,200 kills ... selected the Metro Player of the Year by the Birmingham News in 2009 ... played at the club level for the Birmingham Volleyball Club.

PERSONALAllison Kay Slaughter ... born Oct. 6, 1991 in Pender, Nebras-ka ... daughter of Kirk and Kim Slaughter ... has two brothers, Derek and Max, and one sister, Zoe ... Derek is a redshirt freshman linebacker on the UAB football team ... majoring in communications with a minor in marketing.

9

Career Highs

Kills 15 vs . Illinois State (9/2/11) Total Attempts 51 vs . Arkansas State (8/26/11) Attack Percentage (5 kills) .524 (12-1-21) at Tulane (11/14/11) Assists 2, 2x, last at Marshall (10/3/10) Service Aces 2, 3x, last at ECU (11/18/11) Total Blocks 4, 4x, last at Memphis (11/27/10) Digs 21 vs . Marshall (9/23/11)


Volleyball2012

Returning Players

bethany STANFORD5-6 || Jr. || L/DS

Hoover, Ala. || Univ. of West Florida

10AS A SOPHOMORE (2011)Did not see game action.

AS A FRESHMAN (2010 AT WEST FLORIDA)Saw her first action in 2010 after redshirting her first sea-son in 2009 ... played in 14 matches as a reserve for a West Florida team that ended the season ranked in the top 20 of the Division II coaches’ poll ... averaged 1.29 digs per set ... tossed in four service aces ... helped UWF to a 30-7 record, a Gulf South Conference title and an appearance in the regional finals of the NCAA tournament.

HIGH SCHOOLPlayed locally at Hoover High School for coach Donna Burke ... selected by the Birmingham News in 2008 as one of the top defensive specialists in the metro area ... racked up 940 career digs as a three-year letterwinner ... helped Hoover’s 2006 team to a third-place finish at the state finals.

PERSONALBethany Rae Stanford ... born May 14, 1991 in Birmingham, Ala. ... daughter of Doug and Carolyn Stanford ... has two sisters, Alison and Holly, and one brother, Drew ... majoring in philosophy.

Career Highs



Volleyball2012

Returning Players

CAREER STATISTICS Season SP-MP K K/S E TA Pct A A/S SA SA/S SE DIG D/S RE BS BA TB B/S BE BHE Points Pts/S2009 123-33 14 0 .11 12 82 .024 1223 9 .94 38 0 .31 32 271 2 .20 2 1 46 47 0 .38 4 17 76 .0 0 .622010 118-32 26 0 .22 14 87 .138 901 7 .64 23 0 .19 36 265 2 .25 0 0 21 21 0 .18 1 9 59 .5 0 .502011 118-32 2 0 .02 5 24 - .125 685 5 .81 20 0 .17 28 304 2 .58 1 0 0 0 0 .00 1 8 22 .0 0 .19 TOTAL 359-97 42 0.12 31 193 .057 2809 7.82 81 0.23 96 840 2.34 3 1 67 68 0.19 6 34 157.5 0.44

alison WOODS5-9 || Sr. || S

Franklin, Tenn. || Centennial HSEnters her senior season ranking fifth all-time at UAB in career assists with 2,809.

AS A JUNIOR (2011): One of four Blazers to play in all 32 matches includ-ing all 118 sets ... shared setting duties with teammate Becca Howard out of the 6-2 offensive ... ended the season with 685 total assists (5.81 per set) ... performed even better in league games (6.10 per set) ... overall set average ranked 11th in Conference USA ... reached double digits in assists in the last 31 matches ... tallied 21 matches of 20-or-more helpers ... four times reached the 30-assist mark ... averaged 2.58 digs per set and totaled 304 for the year ... tied Kate Morrell with a team-high 12 double-doubles ... posted a career-high 18 digs on Oct. 2 at Southern Miss ... dished out a season-high 31 assists on three occasions, the last at Mar-shall on Nov. 20 ... laced four aces on Nov. 13 versus Tulane in a three-game sweep ... named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2010): Played in all 32 matches and all 118 sets ... served as the primary setter in UAB’s 5-1 offense and shared setting duties with Becca Howard when the Blazers ran a 6-2 attack ... finished the season with 901 assists (7.64 per set) ... also tied for the team-lead with 23 service aces ... ranked third on the team with 265 digs (2.25 per set) ... posted a team-high 11 double-doubles in assists and digs ... reached the 30-assist mark 13 times, the 40-mark seven times and the 50-mark five times ... in a nine-match stretch from Oct. 15-Nov. 12, she averaged 11.17 assists per set and managed at least 49 assists in five of the nine ... racked up a career-high 64 assists Sept. 11 in the five-set win over Arkansas ... finished that match with 64 assists, 13 digs and four kills ... posted a season-best 15 digs on two occasions, both in five-set wins over Rice - Oct. 15 in Birmingham and Nov. 6 in Houston ... reached double-digit digs 12 times ... also added 21 total blocks ... named to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

AS A FRESHMAN (2009): Started all 33 matches as UAB’s primary setter ... played in 123 of a possible 124 sets ... led the team with 10 double-doubles (assists and digs) ... handed out 9.94 assists per set ... reached the 40-assist mark in 16 matches and the 50-assist plateau five times ... posted a season-best 58 helpers Oct. 2 at UCF ... had 55 assists Sept. 18 against UALR and managed 53 assists three times ... reached double-figure digs in 10 matches ... tallied a season-high 14 digs on two occasions - Sept. 1 ver-sus Jacksonville State and Nov. 12 against Marshall ... also added 47 total blocks on the year ... managed a season-best five blocks Oct. 30 against UCF and Nov. 14 versus Memphis ... tallied three kills Sept. 5 at Ole Miss ... served 20 consecutive points Sept. 4 against Alcorn State, falling two shy of the NCAA record ... led the team with 38 aces on the year ... named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

HIGH SCHOOL: Lettered four years at Centennial for coach Sharon Rhine-hart ... served as team captain for four years and was named team MVP in each of her seasons ... earned recognition as one of PrepVolleyball.com’s Top 79 Sophomores in 2007 and as an honorable mention All-American in 2009 ... an all-district selection four times and a two-time all-midstate honoree ... named all-region in 2007 ... holds single-season records at Cen-tennial for service aces (174), assists (1,422) and digs (264) ... at the club level, played for two national championship teams (2006 and 2008) from Impact Volleyball Club in Nashville ... selected to the JOVC all-tournament team in 2006 ... co-captained her Impact team for six years with current UAB teammate Sam Serley ... graduated with honors and was a member of the National Honor Society ... four-time member of the Principal’s List.

PERSONAL: Alison Elizabeth Woods ... born Dec. 4, 1990 in Memphis, Tenn. ... daughter of Don and Jane Woods ... has two sisters, Jessica and Kristen ... majoring in business (industrial distribution) with a minor in medical technology.

1

Career Highs

Kills 4, 2x, last vs . Arkansas (9/11/10) Total Attempts 8, 4x, last vs . Arkansas (9/11/10) Attack Percentage (5 kills) N/A Assists 64 vs . Arkansas (9/11/10) Service Aces 6 vs . Alcorn State (9/4/09) Total Blocks 6 vs . Southern Miss (10/31/10) Digs 18 at Southern Miss (10/2/11)


Volleyball2012

Newcomers

<< ally PETERS6-0 || Fr. || OH

Medina, Ohio || Medina HS

24HIGH SCHOOL (Ally Peters)Played four seasons at Medina High School for head coach Jason Schellenberger … an All-Ohio honorable mention selection her senior season … averaged 4.9 kills and 2.2 digs per set during final year … led Medina HS to its first Sweet 16 appearance in the state tournament in 27 years in senior season … Medina also cap-tured district championship in 2011 … a three-time All-Medina County selection … two-time all-district choice by the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association and two-time All-North-east Ohio Conference honoree … finished career as Medina’s all-time leader in kills (1,046) and aces (130) and owns the seven highest single-match kill totals in school history … named MVP of the area by the Medina Gazette in 2011 … played club volleyball for the Cleveland Volleyball Company (CCVC) … named to the All-American team in both 2009 and 2011 at Nationals.

PERSONALAllyson Vine Peters … born April 2, 1994 in Medina, Ohio … daughter of Jody and Karen Peters … has three brothers – Zach, Tyler and Luke … expected major is communications.

HIGH SCHOOL (Emma Schroer)Four-year letterwinner at Ogallala High School … helped lead her team to an appearance in the final eight of the Nebraska state tournament all four seasons … played both setter and outside hitter at Ogallala … three-time All-Southwest Conference and all-area selection … First Team All-Southwest Conference pick as both a junior and senior…an honorable mention all-state mem-ber, selected by the Associated Press in final season … recorded more than 200 kills and 450 assists as a senior … named her volleyball team’s most outstanding senior player and offensive player … selected to compete for in the West Nebraska All-Star Volleyball Game … also played three years of basketball and earned all-conference and all-area honors twice … four-year let-terwinner in tennis ... played at the same high school as current UAB volleyball senior Kate Morrell.

PERSONALEmma Marie Schroer … born December 31, 1993 in Kansas City, Mo. … daughter of Mike Schroer and Gwen and Jim Rezac … has three brothers – Jack, Ryder and Rock Rezac and two sisters – Syd and Kendall Schroer … niece of UAB coaches Kerry and Hal Mess-ersmith … expected major is health care management.

8

emma SCHROER >>5-10 || Fr. || S

Ogallala, Neb. || Ogallala HS


Volleyball2012

Bartow Arena

Bartow Arena serves as the UAB volleyball team’s home court. Formerly UAB Arena, the home facility for the Blazers was later renamed to honor former athletics director and head basket-ball coach Gene Bartow. The UAB volleyball team is now in its 24th season at the venue. Since becoming the first team to host intercol-legiate athletic competition in the arena in 1988, UAB volleyball has hosted a number of tourna-ments, including the 1988 Sun Belt Conference Championship and the first Women’s Invitational Volleyball Championship in 1989. In 1993, UAB hosted the third Great Midwest Conference Cham-pionship. Bartow Arena is a multi-purpose facility that is used for intercollegiate athletic events, as well as numerous other activities and events hosted by the university. The arena is home to the men’s and women’s basketball teams and UAB graduation ceremonies. With 18,000-square feet of floor space, the arena has a permanent wood floor, which has three basketball courts, three volleyball courts and a portable hardwood floor for basketball. There are a total of 8,500 seats (6,500 permanent, 2,000

retractable), and there is a maximum capacity of 9,500. In addition, the arena houses athletic and administrative offices, locker rooms, the Green and Gold Room, the Blazer Club and the Champion Club. In 2009, the arena added new scoreboards at each end and a new, four-panel, video board above mid-court. In 2011, the lower bowl of seats was re-placed. Additional changes to the building over the years have included a renovation of the administra-tive towers annex, a new locker room and equip-ment room for football and a renovation of the Green and Gold, Blazer Club and Champions Club rooms. Specifically related to volleyball, the arena’s 15 foot by 26 foot locker room was renovated in the summer of 2007. With the upgrade came brand new spacious lockers for each student-athlete, leather couches and a 50-inch flat-screen plasma television. The UAB volleyball program’s all-time record in Bartow Arena entering 2012 stands at 166-107 (.608).

All-Time Records vs. Opponents at Home

Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3Alabama A&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1Alabama State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Auburn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8Austin Peay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Baylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Butler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Chattanooga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Charlotte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3Cincinnati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6Dayton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0DePaul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3East Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1East Tennessee State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Eastern Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Florida A&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Florida International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Georgia Southern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Georgia State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1Georgia Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0George Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Hofstra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Houston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3

Iowa State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Jackson State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Jacksonville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Jacksonville State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1James Madison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Lamar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Lipscomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Louisiana-Lafayette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Louisiana-Monroe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Louisville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-4Marshall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2Marquette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2Memphis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-10Mercer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1Middle Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3Missisippi State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2Mississippi Valley State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Montevallo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Murray State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1NC State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Northeastern Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Pittsburgh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2

Saint Louis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5Samford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-0Sam Houston State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0SMU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4South Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1South Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1South Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7Southeastern Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Southern Miss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8Stephen F. Austin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Stetson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0TCU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Tennessee State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-0Tennessee Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Texas-San Antonio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Texas Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Troy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2Tulane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5Tulsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2UCF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1UTEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-0Western Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1*BOLD indicates playing at Bartow Arena in 2011


Volleyball2012

2011 RewindThe UAB volleyball team produced an outstanding season in 2011 under head coach Kerry Messersmith, who concluded her sixth season with the program. The Blazers witnessed records fall and milestones reached, while finishing second in the Conference USA standings.

SECOND ALL-AMERICA AWARD FOR SERLEYMiddle blocker Sam Serley earned her second AVCA All-American honorable mention selection in as many years. Serley becomes just the second player in UAB volleyball history to earn the distinct award multiple times, joining Ivana Bozic (2006, 2008). Serley also garnered All-Midwest Region honors, while teammate Heather Thomas was named an hon-orable mention selection.

ALL-LEAGUE HONORSUAB had two players picked to the all-league squads in Sam Ser-ley (first team) and Heather Thomas (second team), while head coach Kerry Messersmith was named C-USA Co-Coach of the Year with Tulsa’s Steven McRoberts.

MESSERSMITH EARNS WIN No. 600Head coach Kerry Messersmith earned her 600th career victory as a collegiate volleyball coach. The milestone took place on Oct. 23 in a 3-1 win against Rice at Bartow Arena. In her 24 seasons on the sidelines, Messersmith has now posted a career tally of

605-324 overall and 131-72 in six years with the Blazers.

SIZZILING STREAKSDuring the 2011 cam-paign, the Blazers tallied a 13-match win streak, the second longest in the league. During the suc-cessful stretch, UAB cap-tured two tournament crowns – Kennesaw State

Owls Classic and Creighton Classic – along with winning its first seven league matches. League champion Tulsa was the only squad to put together a longer win streak (14 games). It also marked the second-longest streak in program history, trailing only the 2008 squad that won 16 matches in a row.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDSDuring the season, the Blazers captured five defensive and one offensive C-USA Player of the Week honors. Heather Thomas led the team, being picked the league’s top defender on three occa-sions. Kiriana Hirini not only won the league defensive honor on

Oct. 3, but she also garnered the AVSR Global Player of the Week award. Hirini was one of just four players in C-USA to earn the honor in 2011.

OFFENSE POTWSam Serley (Oct. 10)

DEFENSE POTWHeather Thomas (Sept. 19)Kirsten Gallagher (Sept. 26)Kiriana Hirini (Oct. 3)Heather Thomas (Nov. 7)Heather Thomas (Nov. 28)

AVSR POTWKiriana Hirini (Nov. 7)

DEFENSE DOMINATESThe UAB defense was one of the main elements to the team’s success, finishing tops in the conference in opponent’s overall hitting percentage (.167) and third in league games (.180). The Blazers recorded 15 matches keeping the opposition’s hitting percentage under .150 and was a perfect 15-0 in those matches.

BLOCKING BRIGADEOn the season, the Blazers recorded 17 matches with 10-or-more blocks. In those contests, UAB sported a 15-2 record, including 12 straight wins, when reaching double-digit swats. Of those 15 victories, 10 came against C-USA opponents, as the Blazers were a perfect 10-0 when reaching 10-plus blocks in league match-

es. The Blaz-ers posted the s e c o n d - b e s t blocks per set average in all matches and C-USA contests (2.74/2.86).

RICKS STUFF MINERSOn Nov. 6, true-freshman Ashley Ricks collected 12 block assists in a 3-1 victory against the UTEP Miners at Bartow Arena. The 12 blocks were the most by a UAB player since Shaniqua Cooper posted 15 blocks at the C-USA tournament in 2006. The block total tied for the most by an individual in the league this season. For the season, three different players recorded 10-or-more blocks in a game, led by Sam Serley who accomplished the feat twice.

Lowest Opponent’s Hitting Percentages.020 East Carolina – Sept. 25.032 Eastern Kentucky – Sept. 10.034 UNC Asheville – Aug. 27.049 Drake – Sept. 17.072 Southern Miss – Oct. 2

Top Blocking Outings19.0 at Southern Miss (4 sets) – Oct. 218.0 vs. UTEP (4 sets) – Nov. 616.0 at UCF (4 sets) – Oct. 716.0 vs. McNeese State (4 sets) – Sept. 1616.0 vs. Illinois State (5 sets) – Sept. 2

Sam Serley

Coach Kerry Messersmith


Volleyball2012

2011 Rewind##### INSIDE THE NUMBERS #####

2,809: Career assists for setter Alison Woods, ranking fifth in program history

2,131: Career digs for Heather Thomas, tops in UAB lore.

1,000: Exact number of total attacks that Kate Morrell registered in 2011

605: Career victories for head coach Kerry Messersmith in 24 seasons

492: Consecutive sets played by Heather Thomas during her four-year career

379: Career total blocks for Sam Serley, ranking fifth all-time for the Blazers

323: Total number of team blocks, second in C-USA

154: Total blocks by Sam Serley in 2011, tied for fourth most at UAB

131: Career victories for Messersmith at UAB in six seasons

118: Total number of sets played by UAB, over the course of 32 matches

86: Total solo blocks as a team, tops in C-USA

45: Double-doubles recorded by the Blazers

17: Matches the Blazers recorded 10-or-more blocks in a contest

13: Match win streak, the second longest in team history

12: Blocks in one game by Ashley Ricks, tied for the most by a C-USA player in 2011

6: C-USA Player of the Week honors captured by the Blazers

5.35: Digs per set average for Heather Thomas, tops in C-USA

4: Players that competed in all 118 sets (Howard, Serley, Thomas, Woods)

4th: Heather Thomas’ rank for career digs in C-USA history

1st: Kiriana Hirini became the first UAB player named AVSR Player of the Week.

.351: Hitting percentage by Sam Serley, third best in C-USA

.326: Career-hitting percentage for Sam Serley, third best in team history

.167: Opponent’s hitting percentage against the Blazers, lowest in the league

• Finished fourth all-time in Conference USA with 2,131 career digs.

• UAB record holder for career digs (2,131) and digs in a sea-son (631).

• Fourth student-athlete in C-USA history to reach 2,000 digs.

• 2011 Second Team All-Con-ference USA selection.

• 2011 All-Midwest Region Honorable Mention.

• Three-time Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week.

THOMAS REWRITES RECORD BOOKSIn her final season with the UAB Blazers, senior libe-ro Heather Thomas put forth a record-setting cam-paign in which she reached numerous milestones for the Blazers. The Madison, Ala. native is not only the fifth player in C-USA history to reach 2,000 digs, but she also set the school record (2,131) and single-season record (631) for digs.

HEATHER THOMAS

C-USA ALL-TIME DIGS LEADERS

1. Jaci Gonzalez, Houston ‘02-’05 2,4512. Tracey Lam, Rice ‘07-’10 2,3993. Sidney Stewart, SMU ‘08-’11 2,2184. Heather Thomas, UAB ‘08-’11 2,1315. Trish Ladusaw, Cincinnati ‘99-’02 2,024

Heather Thomas


Volleyball2012

2011 Season Rewind

Final 2011 Statistics Name GP K K/S E TA Pct. A A/S SA SE SA/S RE Dig D/S BS BA Tot. B/S BE BHE Pts.SERLEY, Sam 118 287 2 .43 77 598 .351 7 0 .06 3 6 0 .03 0 24 0 .20 33 121 154 1 .31 9 0 383 .5MORRELL, Kate 100 281 2 .81 105 1000 .176 9 0 .09 25 37 0 .25 36 284 2 .84 3 41 44 0 .44 9 0 329 .5SLAUGHTER, Ally 99 236 2 .38 103 780 .171 3 0 .03 14 28 0 .14 30 246 2 .48 3 26 29 0 .29 7 1 266 .0RICKS, Ashley 113 206 1 .82 71 546 .247 4 0 .04 0 0 0 .00 1 39 0 .35 8 80 88 0 .78 16 0 254 .0IMMONS, Michele 115 193 1 .68 73 508 .236 2 0 .02 0 0 0 .00 0 22 0 .19 4 67 71 0 .62 9 0 230 .5GALLAGHER, Kirsten 93 114 1 .23 29 306 .278 12 0 .13 14 11 0 .15 0 72 0 .77 18 77 95 1 .02 12 0 184 .5SOARES, Thais 50 106 2 .12 52 373 .145 3 0 .06 8 15 0 .16 11 103 2 .06 3 13 16 0 .32 3 1 123 .5HIRINI, Kiriana 40 44 1 .10 13 118 .263 2 0 .05 1 10 0 .03 0 20 0 .50 14 48 62 1 .55 6 0 83 .0FAIRBANKS, Rachel 8 11 1 .38 7 57 .070 1 0 .12 0 4 0 .00 2 18 2 .25 0 1 1 0 .12 0 0 11 .5HOWARD, Becca 118 4 0 .03 3 14 .071 533 4 .52 19 18 0 .16 1 198 1 .68 0 0 0 0 .00 0 3 23 .0THOMAS, Heather 118 3 0 .03 2 27 .037 103 0 .87 26 38 0 .22 19 631 5 .35 0 0 0 0 .00 0 0 29 .0WOODS, Alison 118 2 0 .02 5 24 - .125 685 5 .81 20 28 0 .17 1 304 2 .58 0 0 0 0 .00 1 8 22 .0TEAM 22

UAB TOTALS 118 1487 12.60 540 4351 .218 1364 11.56 130 195 1.10 123 1961 16.62 86 474 323.0 2.74 73 13 1940.0Opponents 118 1528 12.95 764 4586 .167 1432 12.14 124 210 1.05 129 2073 17.57 55 276 193.0 1.64 70 25 1845.0

2011 Results Overall: 23-9 C-USA: 13-17 Home: 6-4 Away: 10-3 Neutral: 7-2

Date Opponent Result Score Set-by-Set Score Aug . 26 vs AKRON! W 3-0 26-24,25-17,25-15 Aug . 26 vs Arkansas State! W 3-2 25-22,19-25,28-26,20-25,15-12 Aug . 27 vs UNC Asheville! W 3-0 25-18,26-24,25-21 Sept . 2 at UT Martin% W 3-1 25-20,16-25,25-12,25-16 Sept . 2 vs Illinois State% L 2-3 18-25,22-25,25-20,25-18,8-15 Sept . 3 vs Stephen F . Austin% L 2-3 15-25,25-21,26-24,20-25,14-16 Sept . 9 vs Troy& W 3-0 25-19,25-15,25-17 Sept . 10 vs Eastern Kentucky& W 3-0 25-10,25-18,25-17 Sept . 10 at Kennesaw State& W 3-0 25-20,25-15,25-18 Sept . 16 vs McNeese State$ W 3-1 25-11,25-10,23-25,27-25 Sept . 17 vs Drake$ W 3-0 25-21,25-18,25-14 Sept . 17 at Creighton$ W 3-1 25-21,25-15,13-25,25-17 Sept . 20 at Memphis* W 3-0 25-17,25-14,25-20 Sept . 23 MARSHALL* W 3-1 25-19,25-9,24-26,25-20 Sept . 25 ECU* W 3-0 25-13,25-15,25-13 Sept . 30 at Tulane* W 3-2 25-20,25-22,22-25,16-25,15-12 Oct . 02 at Southern Miss* W 3-1 16-25,25-20,25-11,25-22 Oct . 07 at UCF* W 3-1 16-25,25-18,25-21,25-22 Oct . 08 at UCF* W 3-2 25-21,19-25,25-22,19-25,17-15 Oct . 14 TULSA* L 0-3 15-25,21-25,11-25 Oct . 16 SMU* L 0-3 19-25,17-25,23-25 Oct . 21 at Houston* L 1-3 25-23,23-25,17-25,20-25 Oct . 23 RICE* W 3-1 27-29,25-22,25-23,25-21 Oct . 28 at SMU* L 0-3 18-25,13-25,22-25 Oct . 30 at Tulsa* L 1-3 19-25,26-24,17-25,20-25 Nov . 05 UTEP* W 3-0 25-20,29-27,27-25 Nov . 06 UTEP* W 3-1 25-20,18-25,25-14,25-21 Nov . 11 SOUTHERN MISS* L 0-3 19-25,20-25,16-25 Nov . 13 TULANE* W 3-0 25-20,25-16,25-15 Nov . 18 at ECU* W 3-0 25-14,25-23,25-17 Nov . 20 at Marshall* W 3-1 25-21,16-25,25-18,25-18 Nov . 23 MEMPHIS* L 1-3 25-15,20-25,20-25,19-25

! UAB/Samford Invitational % First State Skyhawk Invitational & Owls Classic $ Creighton Classic * Conference USA

Sam Serley became the second two-time AVCA All-American se-lection in UAB history

Heather Thomas finished first in school history and fourth all-time in Confer-ence USA with 2,131 digs.


Volleyball2012

2011 Conference USA Rewind

Final 2011 Conference USA Standings C-USA All MatchesTeam W-L Pct. Streak W-L Pct. Home Away Neutral Last 5^Tulsa 18-2 .900 L1 28-7 .800 12-2 11-3 5-2 3-2UAB 13-7 .650 L1 23-9 .719 6-4 10-3 7-2 6-4Rice 13-7 .650 L1 18-13 .581 10-5 7-5 1-3 6-4UCF 12-8 .600 W2 20-11 .645 12-6 6-5 2-0 6-4Houston 12-8 .600 W1 19-11 .633 11-3 5-7 3-1 4-6Southern Miss 11-9 .550 W2 17-15 .531 10-3 4-10 3-2 7-3SMU 11-9 .550 W1 15-17 .469 9-4 4-9 2-4 6-4UTEP 9-11 .450 L3 19-14 .576 10-4 5-8 4-2 4-6Memphis 9-11 .450 W3 20-13 .606 9-5 6-7 5-1 5-5Marshall 8-12 .400 W1 10-21 .323 5-7 3-10 2-4 5-5Tulane 4-16 .200 L8 9-22 .290 4-11 3-10 2-1 1-9East Carolina 0-20 .000 L20 2-27 .069 1-11 1-10 0-6 0-10

^ 2011 C-USA Regular Season Champion

First TeamLucy Charuk, Houston

Altrese Hawkins, MemphisNancy Cole, Rice

Courtney Manning, SMUKelsea Seymour, Southern Miss

Jessica Adams, TulsaTyler Henderson, Tulsa

Diana Silva, TulsaSam Serley, UAB

Angelica Crump, UCFXitlali Herrera, UTEP

All-Freshman TeamCaitlin Ogletree, Houston

Sammie Bane, MarshallJillian Humphrey, RiceCaroline Young, SMUAnna Wruck, TulaneDelaina Sarden, UCF

Second TeamKatie Norris, Houston

Chandace Tryon, HoustonAbby Tomas, MarshallMegan Murphy, RiceJessica Oliver, SMUDana Powell, SMU

Lisa Knecht, Southern MissAshley Mell, Southern Miss

Cori Martone, TulaneKellie Culbertson, TulsaHeather Thomas, UAB

Evija Vilde, UCFRachel Vukson, UCFJeane Horton, UTEP

Specialty (of the year) AwardsPlayer: Tyler Henderson, Tulsa

Setter: Kelsea Seymour, Southern MissLibero: Jessica Adams, Tulsa

Freshman: Delaina Sarden, UCFCoach: Kerry Messersmith, UAB &

Steven McRoberts, Tulsa

NCAA First Round(Los Angeles, Calif.)Tulsa 3, Oklahoma 1

NCAA Second Round(Los Angeles, Calif.)

USC 3, Tulsa 0

2011 C-USAStat Leaders

Kills Per Set1 . T . Henderson, TLS (4 .81)2 . A . Hawkins, MEM (4 .40)3 . A . Crump, UCF (4 .34)4 . A . Mell, USM (3 .59)5 . C . Martone, TLN (3 .44)

Assists Per Set1 . R . Vukson, UCF (11 .97)2 . H . Molnar, MEM (11 .77)3 . K . Seymour, USM (11 .32)4 . M . Murphy, RICE (10 .89)5 . C . Ogletree, HOU (10 .66)

Digs Per Set1 . H . Thomas, UAB (5 .35)2 . L . Knecht, USM (4 .92)3 . S . Stewart, SMU (4 .86)4 . J . Adams, TLS (4 .86)5 . S . Figueroa, UTEP (4 .80)

Blocks Per Set1 . C . Manning, SMU (1 .44)2 . L . Charuk, HOU (1 .42)3 . S . Serly, UAB (1 .31)4 . C .Daly, SMU (1 .21)5 . J . Humphrey, RICE (1 .18)

Hitting Pct.1 . L . Charuk, HOU ( .387)2 . T . Henderon, TLS ( .354)3 . S . Serley, UAB ( .351)4 . N . Cole, RICE ( .335)5 . T . McCutcheon, UCF ( .329)

C-USA Tourney History

*The C-USA Tournament returns for the 2012 season after not being a part of the league schedule since 2009. The tournament will be held in Tulsa, Okla., at the conclusion of the regular season.

2009Tudor Fieldhouse, Houston, Texas1ST -- (2) Tulsa def . (7) UAB, 3-1

2008 (Runner-up)Elma Roane Fieldhouse, Memphis, Tenn.QF -- (2) UAB def . (10) Marshall, 3-0SF -- (2) UAB def . (3) Rice, 3-1FIN -- (1) Tulane def . (2) UAB, 3-2

2007 (Runner-up)Cam Henderson Center, Huntington, W.Va.QF -- (3) UAB def . (11) Southern Miss, 3-0SF -- (3) UAB def . (2) Tulane, 3-1FIN -- (4) Tulsa def . (3) UAB, 3-2

2006 (Champion)Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, Texas1ST -- (5) UAB def . (12) UCF, 3-1QF -- (5) UAB def . (4) Tulane, 3-1SF -- (5) UAB def . (1) Tulsa, 3-1FIN -- (5) UAB def . (3) Memphis, 3-1

2005Autry Court, Houston, Texas1ST -- (7) SMU def . (10) UAB, 3-1

2004Cardinal Arena, Louisville, Ky.Did not qualify

2003Fogelman Arena, New Orleans, La.1ST -- (10) TCU def . (7) UAB, 3-0

2002DePaul Athletic Center, Chicago, Ill.1ST -- (8) Southern Miss def . (9) UAB, 3-1

2001Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, TexasDid not qualify

2000Halton Arena, Charlotte, N.C.1ST -- (5) DePaul def . (12) UAB, 3-0

1999The Sun Dome, Tampa, Fla.1ST -- (12) UAB def . (5) St . Louis, 3-1QF -- (4) DePaul def . (12), UAB 3-1

1998Shoemaker Center, Cincinnati, Ohio1ST -- (5) Houston def . (12) UAB, 3-0

1997Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, Texas1ST -- (7) Memphis def . (10) UAB, 3-1

1996Cardinal Arena, Louisville, Ky.1ST -- (8) UAB def . (9) Southern Miss, 3-0QF -- (1) USF def . (8) UAB, 3-0

1995Cardinal Arena, Louisville, Ky.1ST -- (7) UAB def . (10) Charlotte, 3-0QF -- (2) USF def . (7) UAB, 3-0

2011 C-USA Awards

2011 NCAA Tournament


Volleyball2012

Season RecordsKills 1 . Tonya Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668 (1996) 2 . Tonya Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663 (1997) 3 . Ivana Bozic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656 (2006) 4 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565 (1991) 5 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525 (1989) 6 . Laura Opperman . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514 (1983) 7 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504 (1990) 8 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501 (1989) 9 . Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477 (1990) 10 . Martina Shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457 (2002) Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457 (1988)

Total Attempts 1 . Tonya Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,723 (1996) 2 . Ivana Bozic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,684 (2006) 3 . Tonya Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,605 (1997) 4 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,275 (1991) 5 . Ivana Bozic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,267 (2008) 6 . Denise Feer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,185 (1999) 7 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,181 (1989) 8 . Martina Shields . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,179 (2003) 9 . Trisha Eddy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,171 (1998) 10 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,168 (1988) Attack Percentage(Minimum of 500 attempts) 1 . Laura Opperman . . . . . . . . . . . . .424 (1983) 2 . Lisa Watts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .404 (1983) 3 . Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . .379 (1990) 4 . Casey Dent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .365 (2008) 5 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .355 (1989) 6. Sam Serley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .351 (2011) 7 . Casey Dent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .347 (2006) 8 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .340 (1990) 9 . Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . .334 (1991) 10. Sam Serley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .318 (2010)

Assists 1 . Tammy Robertson . . . . . . . . . . .1,763 (1991) 2 . Tammy Robertson . . . . . . . . . . .1,746 (1990) 3 . Nevena Stefanov . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,739 (2006) 4 . Jill Gilmour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,600 (1988) 5 . Tammy Robertson . . . . . . . . . . .1,584 (1992) 6 . Tammy Robertson . . . . . . . . . . .1,557 (1989) 7 . Patti Schroder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,496 (1985) 8 . Nevena Stefanov . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,467 (2008) 9 . Heather Dillard . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,397 (1994) 10 . Heather Dillard . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,388 (1993)

Service Aces 1 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 (1990) 2 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 (1991) 3 . Patti Schroder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 (1985) 4 . Ashley Sargent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 (1984) 5 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 (1988) 6 . Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 (1990) 7 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 (1988) 8 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 (1989) Ginny Alexander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 (1985) 10 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 (1989)

Block Solos 1 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 (1989) 2 . Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 (1990) Janet McCrary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 (1984) 4 . Terri Steeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 (1995) 5 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 (1988) Shondra Bonovitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 (1985) 7 . Chelsea Bishop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 (1993) 8 . Michele Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 (1985) 9. Sam Serley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 (2010) 10 . Ginny Alexander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 (1985)

Block Assists 1 . Terri Steeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 (1996) 2 . Hailey Isham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 (1997) 3. Sam Serley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 (2011) 4 . Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 (1991) 5 . Chelsea Bishop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 (1993) 6 . Toni Herron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 (1991) 7 . Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 (1992) 8 . Hailey Isham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 (1995) 9 . Lilly Domingos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 (2008) 10 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 (1989)

Total Blocks 1 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 (1989) 2 . Terri Steeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 (1996) 3 . Hailey Isham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 (1997) 4. Sam Serley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 (2011) Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 (1990) 6 . Chelsea Bishop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 (1993) 7 . Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 (1992) 8 . Hailey Isham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 (1995) Terri Steeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 (1995) Toni Herron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 (1991) Digs 1 . Heather Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631 (2011) 2 . Heather Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607 (2010) 3 . Brianna Galvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592 (2006) 4 . Heather Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586 (2009) 5 . Brianna Galvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518 (2007) 6 . Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476 (1990) 7 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458 (1987) 8 . Ivana Bozic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453 (2008) 9 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447 (1990) 10 . Aleksandra Vujovic . . . . . . . . . . . . 442 (2008)

Brianna Galvin

NCAA Career Record

Tammy Robertson During her four-year stint at UAB (1989-92), Tammy Robertson started in all 171 matches and played all but two of 622 games, becoming the UAB career leader in assists (6,650) and attack percentage ( .389) . Entering the 1992 season 16th among the all-time national career assist leaders, Robert-son was the top returning player in the nation with 5,066 . She needed 1,530 for the record . Robertson broke the national record (formerly held by Michelle Jaworski of Penn State since 1989 at 6,596) during a postseason match against Cornell at the Women’s Invita-tional Volleyball Championship . Recording 64 assists during the match, Robertson sur-passed the record at 6,615 . In a subsequent match, she increased her total to 6,650 career assists, making her No . 1 in NCAA history . Robertson led UAB to a 113-58 record, three conference championships and four bids to the WIVC during her career . She twice led the conference (Sun Belt in 1990 and Great Midwest in 1992) in assist av-erage . She finished second in the Sun Belt as a freshman (1989) and in the Great Midwest as a junior (1991) . In 1989, Robertson became the first fresh-man in the history of the Sun Belt Conference to earn first-team all-conference honors . She repeated first-team recognition as a sopho-more as she set UAB’s single-match mark for assists with 78 in a five-game victory over Ten-nessee . As a junior, Robertson set the single-season record for assists at UAB with 1,763 . Robertson graduated magna cum laude, earning her undergraduate degree in early childhood education in June 1992 . She earned conference academic recognition in each of her four years, as well .


Volleyball2012

Career Records Kills 1 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . 2,029 (1988-91) 2 . Tonya Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,982 (1994-97) 3 . Ivana Bozic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,874 (2005-08) 4 . Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . 1,616 (1988-91) 5 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,463 (1986-89) 6 . Wendy Huber . . . . . . . . . . . 1,450 (1990-93) 7 . Martina Shields . . . . . . . . . . 1,427 (2000-03) 8 . Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,420 (1988-92) 9 . Casey Dent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,284 (2005-08) 10 . Toni Herron . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,198 (1991-94)

Total Attempts 1 . Tonya Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,060 (1994-97) 2 . Ivana Bozic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,954 (2005-08) 3 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . 4,705 (1988-91) 4 . Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . 4,021 (1988-91) 5 . Martina Shields . . . . . . . . . . 3,756 (2000-03) 6 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,600 (1986-89) 7 . Wendy Huber . . . . . . . . . . . 3,480 (1990-93) 8 . Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,316 (1988-92) 9 . Trisha Eddy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,145 (1995-98) 10 . Toni Herron . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,075 (1991-94)

Attack Percentage(Minimum 1,000 attempts) 1 . Tammy Robertson . . . . . . . . .389 (1989-92) 2 . Casey Dent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .333 (2005-08) 3. Sam Serley . . . . . . . . . . .326 (2009-Present) 4 . Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . .308 (1988-91) 5 . Lilly Domingos . . . . . . . . . . .305 (2007-08) 6 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . .279 (1988-91) 7 . Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . .275 (1988-92) 8 . Tonya Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . .259 (1994-97) 9 . Shondra Bonovitch . . . . . . . . .243 (1984-87) 10 . Terri Steeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238 (1995-98)

Assists 1 . Tammy Robertson . . . . . . . . 6,650 (1989-92) 2 . Nevena Stefanov . . . . . . . . . . 5,839 (2005-08) 3 . Abby Thatcher . . . . . . . . . . . 4,872 (1995-98) 4 . Jill Gilmour . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,948 (1987-88) 5. Alison Woods . . . . . . .2,809 (2009-Present) 6 . Heather Dillard . . . . . . . . . . 2,785 (1993-94) 7 . Patti Schroder . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,480 (1985-86) 8 . Bree Barnard . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,375 (1992-95) 9 . Heather Dempsey . . . . . . . . . 2,284 (1997-00) 10 . Kim Arnold . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,220 (1991-95)

Service Aces 1 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . .388 (1988-91) 2 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263 (1986-89) 3 . Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . . .225 (1988-91) 4 . Tammy Robertson . . . . . . . . . .224 (1989-92) 5 . Wendy Huber . . . . . . . . . . . . .218 (1990-93) 6 . Tonya Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210 (1994-97) 7 . Ginny Alexander . . . . . . . . . . .206 (1983-85) 8 . Ivana Bozic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203 (2005-08) 9 . Suzie Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195 (1989-92) Ashley Sargent . . . . . . . . . . . . .195 (1983-86)

Block Solos 1 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139 (1986-89) 2 . Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136 (1988-92) 3 . Hailey Isham . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124 (1995-98) 4 . Shondra Bonovitch . . . . . . . . . .108 (1984-87) 5 . Jennifer Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . .103 (1986-88) 6 . Terri Steeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 (1995-98) 7. Sam Serley . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 (2009-Present) 8 . Toni Herron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 (1991-94) 9 . Michele Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 (1983-85) 10 . Karen Boyd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 (2000-03) Ginny Alexander . . . . . . . . . . . .53 (1983-85)

Block Assists 1 . Hailey Isham . . . . . . . . . . . . . .411 (1995-98) Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .411 (1988-92) 3 . Terri Steeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .352 (1995-98) 4 . Wendy Huber . . . . . . . . . . . . .316 (1990-93) 5 . Shaniquwa Cooper . . . . . . . . . .307 (2004-07) 6. Sam Serley . . . . . . . . . . . 290 (2009-Present) 7 . Karen Boyd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .274 (2000-03) Kim Arnold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .274 (1991-95) 9 . Toni Herron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271 (1991-94) 10 . Casey Dent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268 (2005-08)

Total Blocks 1 . Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .547 (1988-92) 2 . Hailey Isham . . . . . . . . . . . . . .535 (1995-98) 3 . Terri Steeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .452 (1995-98) 4 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .388 (1986-89) 5. Sam Serley . . . . . . . . . . . 379 (2009-Present) 5 . Shondra Bonovitch . . . . . . . . . .356 (1984-87) 6 . Toni Herron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .352 (1991-94) 7 . Shaniquwa Cooper . . . . . . . . . .347 (2004-07) 8 . Wendy Huber . . . . . . . . . . . . .336 (1990-93) 9 . Karen Boyd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .327 (2000-03) 10 . Casey Dent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .307 (2005-08)

Digs 1 . Heather Thomas . . . . . . . . . . 2,131 (2008-11) 2 . Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . 1,651 (1988-91) 3 . Brianna Galvin . . . . . . . . . . . 1,650 (2005-07) 4 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . 1,533 (1988-91) 5 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,413 (1986-89) 6 . Ivana Bozic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,394 (2005-08) 7 . Aleksandra Vujovic . . . . . . . . 1,381 (2005-08) 8 . Tammy Robertson . . . . . . . . 1,334 (1989-92) 9 . Wendy Huber . . . . . . . . . . . 1,263 (1990-93) 10 . Tonya Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,233 (1994-97)

Games/Sets Played 1 . Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . . .630 (1988-91) 2 . Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . .622 (1988-91) 3 . Tammy Robertson . . . . . . . . . .621 (1989-92) 4 . Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .595 (1986-89) 5 . Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .573 (1988-92) 6 . Wendy Huber . . . . . . . . . . . . .566 (1990-93) 7 . Tonya Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . . .550 (1994-97) 8 . Ashley Sargent . . . . . . . . . . . . .544 (1983-86) 9 . Suzie Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . .540 (1989-92) 10 . Gina Doss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .538 (1984-87)

Terri Steeb

Tonya Larson

1,000 Kill/Dig Club

Player Kills DigsMellissa Cobb (1988-91) 2,029 1,533Tonya Larson (1994-97) 1,982 1,233Ivana Bozic (2005-08) 1,874 1,394Danielle Reaves (1988-91) 1,616 1,651Julie Myers (1986-89) 1,463 1,413Wendy Huber (1990-93) 1,450 1,263Martina Shields (2000-03) 1,427 1,093Toni Herron (1991-94) 1,198 1,065Trisha Eddy (1995-98) 1,031 1,052


Volleyball2012

Honors & Awards

ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Casey Dent (first team)2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Casey Dent (third team)2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Casey Dent (third team)

GTE Academic All-District1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hailey Isham1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suzie Johnson Danielle Reaves1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Opperman

CVU.com Stellar Spikers2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivana Bozic (honorable mention)2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivana Bozic (honorable mention)

AVCA All-Midwest Region2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sam Serley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Thomas (honorable mention)2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sam Serley2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivana Bozic Nevena Stefanov Casey Dent (honorable mention)2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivana Bozic Fernanda Domingos (honorable mention)

AVCA All-Mideast Region1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Danielle Reaves

AVCA All-South Region1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mellissa Cobb Danielle Reaves

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julie Myers

All-Conference USA2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sam Serley (first team) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Thomas (second team)2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sam Serley (second team)2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivana Bozic (first team) Casey Dent (first team) Nevena Stefanov (first team) Lilly Domingos (second team)2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nevena Stefanov (first team) Fernanda Domingos (second team) Casey Dent (second team)2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivana Bozic (first team)2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ivana Bozic (third team)2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martina Shields (second team)2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martina Shields (third team)1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tonya Larson (second team)1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tonya Larson (second team)1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tonya Larson (honorable mention) Bree Barnard (honorable mention)

Conference USA Coach of the Year2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kerry Messersmith (co-coach)

Conference USA Setter of the Year2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nevena Stefanov

Conference USA All-Freshman Team2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ally Slaughter2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sam Serley2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivana Bozic2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bilun Gunal1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Denise Feer1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hailey Isham

Conference USA Newcomer of the Year2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michelle Uzoh2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lilly Domingos2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fernanda Domingos

Conference USA All-Tournament Team2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lilly Domingos Nevena Stefanov2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fernanda Domingos Nevena Stefanov2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivana Bozic (MVP) Fernanda Domingos

Conference USA All-Academic Team2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sam Serley2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sam Serley2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrea Lalic2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Casey Dent2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Casey Dent2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Casey Dent

Conference USA Postgraduate Scholarship1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hailey Isham

All-Great Midwest Conference1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Dillard1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chelsea Bishop Heather Dillard1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kim Arnold Hilary Beck Wendy Huber Tammy Robertson1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hilary Beck Mellissa Cobb Wendy Huber Tammy Robertson

Great Midwest Player of the Year1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hilary Beck

Great Midwest All-Newcomer Team1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tonya Larson1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chelsea Bishop

Great Midwest Newcomer of the Year1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chelsea Bishop1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Toni Herron

All-Sun Belt Conference1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mellissa Cobb Danielle Reaves Tammy Robertson1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mellissa Cobb Julie Myers Danielle Reaves Tammy Robertson1988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mellissa Cobb Jill Gilmour1987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shondra Bonovitch1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patti Schroder1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Artie Pyeatt Patti Schroder1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Janet McCrary1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Opperman Molly Shahan

Sun Belt Player of the Year1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Danielle Reaves1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julie Myers

All-Americans

Sam Serley2010, 2011AVCA All-AmericaHonorable Mention

Nevena Stefanov2008AVCA All-AmericaHonorable Mention

Suzie Johnson1991CoSIDA AcademicAll-AmericaThird Team

Patti Schroder1986CoSIDA AcademicAll-AmericaSecond Team

Players of the Week

CVU.com National Player of the Week2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivana Bozic (Oct . 21)

AVSR Player of the Week2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kiriana Hirini (Nov . 7)

C-USA Player of the Week2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ivana Bozic (Sept . 12)

C-USA Offensive Players of the Week2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sam Serley (Oct . 10)2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Casey Dent (Sept . 29) Ivana Bozic (Oct . 6) Ivana Bozic (Oct . 20) Ivana Bozic (Nov . 3)2007 . . . . . . . . . Fernanda Domingos (Aug . 27) Aleksandra Vujovic (Nov . 5)

C-USA Defensive Players of the Week2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Thomas (Sept . 19) Kirsten Gallagher (Sept . 26) Kiriana Hirini (Oct . 3) Heather Thomas (Nov . 7) Heather Thomas (Nov . 28)2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michelle Uzoh (Nov . 8)2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patty Paniagua (Nov . 2)2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lilly Domingos (Oct . 13)2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brianna Galvin (Sept . 4)2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brianna Galvin (Nov . 6)

C-USA Setters of the Week2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . Nevena Stefanov (Sept . 15) Nevena Stefanov (Oct . 13)2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nevena Stefanov (Oct . 1) Nevena Stefanov (Oct . 15) Nevena Stefanov (Nov . 5)2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . Nevena Stefanov (Oct . 30) Nevena Stefanov (Nov . 6)

Ivana Bozic2006, 2008AVCA All-AmericaHonorable Mention


Volleyball2012

Honors & Awards

Conference Academic Awards

Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll2011-12: Rachel Fairbanks, Kiriana Hirini, Becca Howard, Kirsten Gallagher, Mariah McCallum, Kate Morrell, Sam Serley, Lindsay Simmons, Thais Soares, Ally Slaughter, Heather Thomas, Michelle Uzoh, Alison Woods2010-11: Daniella Cavallo, Rachel Fairbanks, Kirsten Gallagher, Becca Howard, Sam Serley, Ally Slaughter, Thais Soares, Heather Thomas, Michelle Uzoh, Alison Woods2009-10: Emily Foreman, Rachel James, Andrea Lalic, Savan-nah Pegg, Sam Serley, Nevena Stefanov, Aley Tallman, Heather Thomas, Michelle Uzoh, MacKenzie Wilson, Alison Woods2008-09: Charlayna Braxton, Ivana Bozic, Casey Dent, Emily Foreman, Kirsten Gallagher, Rachel James, Andrea Lalic, Leah Nye, Savannah Pegg, Nevena Stefanov, Aleksandra Vujovic, MacKenzie Wilson2007-08: Haylee Adkins, Ivana Bozic, Casey Dent, Emily Fore-man, Brianna Galvin, Rachel James, Andrea Lalic, Leah Nye, Angie Ping, Nevena Stefanov, Aleksandra Vujovic2006-07: Haylee Adkins, Ivana Bozic, Casey Dent, Fernanda Domingos, Brianna Galvin, Andrea Lalic, Leah Nye, Angie Ping2005-06: Casey Dent, Charli Lindley, Isabel Oquendo, Angie Ping, Nevena Stefanov2004-05: Nicole Bowland, Shaniquwa Cooper, Kaitlyn Filar, Jenna Link, Cassi Ociesa, Isabel Oquendo, Angie Ping, Joanna Szeszycki2003-04: Karen Boyd, Bilun Gunal, Lindsay Joyce, Jenna Link, Cassi Ociesa, Isabel Oquendo, Joanna Szeszycki2002-03: Karen Boyd, Lindsay Joyce, Allison Magner, Samanta Tucillo2001-02: Karen Boyd, Ellen Fleisher, Lindsay Joyce, Kerra Kepley, Allison Magner, Amber Sorensen2000-01: Karen Boyd, Blair Canant, Heather Dempsey, Lindsay Joyce, Kristen Pettey1999-00: Laura Burke, Kristen Pettey, Karen Steuer, Karla Wehrle1998-99: Laura Burke, Kristen Petty, Terri Steeb, Karen Steuer, Karla Wehrle1997-98: Tonya Larson, Laura Burke, Kristen Pettey, Terri Steeb, Abby Thatcher, Hailey Isham1995-96: Bree Barnard, Denise Bailey, Kim Arnold

C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal2011-12: Sam Serley2010-11: Daniella Cavallo, Sam Serley2009-10: MacKenzie Wilson2008-09: Andrea Lalic2007-08: Casey Dent2006-07: Casey Dent2005-06: Casey Dent2004-05: Shaniquwa Cooper, Kaitlyn Filar2003-04: Lindsay Joyce, Joanna Szeszycki1998-99: Hailey Isham1997-98: Hailey Isham

Great Midwest Academic Honor Roll1994: Kim Arnold, Denise Bailey, Bree Barnard1993: Kim Arnold, Bree Barnard, Mandy Miller1992: Kim Arnold, Bree Barnard, Sharilee Doty1991: Wendy Huber, Suzie Johnson, Stephanie Overfelt, Danielle Reaves, Tammy Robertson

Great Midwest Academic Medal of Honor1992: Suzie Johnson, Tammy Robertson1991: Suzie Johnson

Sun Belt Academic Honor Roll1990: Mellissa Cobb, Wendy Huber, Suzie Johnson, Stephanie Overfelt, Danielle Reaves, Tammy Robertson1989: Andrea Fountain, Suzie Johnson, Danielle Reaves, Tammy Robertson, Cheri Schmidt1988: Danielle Reaves1987: Jill Gilmour, Katrine LaCroix1986: Patti Schroder, Renee Fangman, Ashley Sargent1985: Terri Andrews, Patti Schroder

Sun Belt Commissioner’s Award1990: Suzie Johnson, Danielle Reaves, Tammy Robertson

Sun Belt Tournament MVP1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tammy Robertson

Sun Belt Female Athlete of the Year1987 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patti Schroder1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patti Schroder

Lillyan Fahey Scholarship2008-09 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nevena Stefanov2002-03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dina Katsoulis

UAB Academic Awardfor the Top Female Senior Student-Athlete1998-99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hailey Isham1997-98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tonya Larson

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Award1998-99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terri Steeb1997-98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tonya Larson

Mervyn Goldstein Memorial Scholarship1998-99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tonya Larson1986-87 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patti Schroder

UAB Emerging Leaders Scholarship1998-99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kellyanne Gandy

University of Alabama at Birmingham Sibley Scholarship1994-95 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hailey Isham

Gene Bartow Scholarship2010-11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michelle Uzoh1991-92 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mellissa Cobb1989-90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julie Myers1986-87 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ashley Sargent1983-84 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Opperman

Danielle Reaves

Mellissa Cobb

Retired Jersey

Patti Schroder Following her successful two-year career at UAB, former volleyball great Patti Schroder was honored by having her No . 4 jersey retired . Schroder is one of the most decorated players, both athletically and academically, in the history of the Blazer volleyball program . More than two decades after her playing ca-reer ended, she still ranks sixth all-time at UAB with 2,480 assists in just two seasons (1985-86) . Her 1985 season totals of 95 aces and 1,496 as-sists rank third and seventh, respectively, in the Blazer record book . Schroder was an All-Sun Belt Conference performer in both 1985 and 1986 and topped that by twice being named the Sun Belt Female Athlete of the Year . Her strong performance on the court com-bined with her high marks in the classroom earned her a spot on the Sun Belt Academic Honor Roll in both of her years at UAB . Even more impressively, Schroder was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team in 1986 . To date, she remains one of two UAB volleyball players ever to earn Academic All-America recognition .


Volleyball2012

All-Time Won-Loss Records

Kerry Messersmith2006-Present (131-72, .645)

Allison Magner/Nikola Petrovic2005 (14-13, .518)

Melinda Claiborne2000-04 (46-105, .305)

Judy Sackfield1992-99 (123-157, .439)

Brenda Williams1980-91 (290-227, .561)

Susan Cook1978-79 (9-40, .184)

Coaching Records

Year-By-Year Records

Year Record Conference Conf. Record Conf. Finish Postseason Head Coach2011 23-9 Conference USA 13-7 2nd -- Kerry Messersmith2010 13-19 Conference USA 10-10 T-6th -- Kerry Messersmith2009 17-16 Conference USA 9-7 T-6th -- Kerry Messersmith2008 27-8 Conference USA 13-3 2nd NCAA Tournament Second Round Kerry Messersmith2007 24-10 Conference USA 12-4 3rd -- Kerry Messersmith2006 27-10 Conference USA 10-6 5th (Tournament Champ) NCAA Tournament First Round Kerry Messersmith2005 14-13 Conference USA 5-10 8th -- Allison Magner/Nikola Petrovic2004 1-24 Conference USA 0-13 14th -- Melinda Claiborne2003 14-20 Conference USA 6-7 T-7th -- Melinda Claiborne2002 13-20 Conference USA 5-8 9th -- Melinda Claiborne2001 12-17 Conference USA 3-13 12th -- Melinda Claiborne2000 6-24 Conference USA 0-16 6th National Division -- Melinda Claiborne1999 10-21 Conference USA 2-14 6th National Division -- Judy Sackfield1998 10-25 Conference USA 1-15 6th National Division -- Judy Sackfield1997 14-21 Conference USA 4-12 6th National Division -- Judy Sackfield1996 18-18 Conference USA 5-9 3rd Red Division -- Judy Sackfield1995 21-18 Conference USA 4-8 3rd Red Division -- Judy Sackfield1994 9-25 Great Midwest 4-8 T-4th -- Judy Sackfield1993 20-18 Great Midwest 7-5 T-3rd -- Judy Sackfield1992 21-11 Great Midwest 9-1 T-1st (GMW Champ) Women’s Invitational Volleyball Championship Judy Sackfield1991 33-10 Great Midwest 4-1 1st (GMW Champ) Women’s Invitational Volleyball Championship Brenda Williams1990 32-16 Sun Belt 9-1 1st (Sun Belt Champ) Women’s Invitational Volleyball Championship Brenda Williams1989 25-19 Sun Belt 7-3 2nd Women’s Invitational Volleyball Championship Brenda Williams1988 20-26 Sun Belt 7-5 2nd -- Brenda Williams1987 21-23 Sun Belt 6-4 4th -- Brenda Williams1986 23-16 Sun Belt -- 3rd -- Brenda Williams1985 30-18 Sun Belt -- 3rd -- Brenda Williams1984 24-27 Sun Belt -- 3rd -- Brenda Williams1983 29-15 Sun Belt -- 2nd -- Brenda Williams1982 19-21 -- -- -- -- Brenda Williams1981 16-16 -- -- -- -- Brenda Williams1980 18-20 -- -- -- -- Brenda Williams1979 6-22 -- -- -- -- Susan Cook1978 3-18 -- -- -- -- Susan Cook


Volleyball2012

All-Time Series RecordsAkron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-16Alabama A&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1Alabama State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-4Albany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Alcorn State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Appalachian State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2Arkansas-Little Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Arkansas State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5Auburn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23Austin Peay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-0Ball State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Baylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Belmont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Bowling Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First MeetingBuffalo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Butler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2UC Riverside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1UC Santa Barbara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Cal State-Northridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Centenary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Charleston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Charleston Southern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Charlotte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-8Chattanooga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-0Chicago State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Cincinnati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14Clemson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3Cleveland State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Coastal Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Colorado State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Cornell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Creighton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Dayton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3Delaware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0DePaul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-11Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Duke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2East Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-5East Tennessee State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2Eastern Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Eastern Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1Eastern Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Eastern Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Elon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Erskine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Evansville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-4Florida A&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Florida International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2Florida Southern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Florida State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6Furman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1George Mason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2George Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13Georgia Southern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-0Georgia State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3Georgia Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-3Gonzaga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Hampton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Hawaii-Hilo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Hofstra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Houston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-18Huntingdon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Indiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Indiana State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Iowa State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2IUPUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1

Illinois State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Jackson State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Jacksonville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-8Jacksonville State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-7James Madison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Judson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Kansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Kennesaw State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Louisiana-Monroe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Louisiana-Lafayette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Lake City CC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Lamar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4Lawson State CC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Lipscomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Livingston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Long Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0LSU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-3Louisville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-12Loyola (Ill .) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Marquette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8Marshall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6Maryland-Baltimore County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Maryland-Eastern Shore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0McNeese State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Memphis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-33Mercer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1Miami-Dade CC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Miami (Fla .) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Miami (Ohio) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-3Middle Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-4Milwaukee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Minnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-21Mississippi State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-10Mississippi Univ . for Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9Mississippi Valley State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Missouri-Kansas City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Missouri State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Montana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Montevallo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10Morehead State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1Murray State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2Navy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Nebraska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Nevada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2New Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1New Mexico State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1New Orleans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5Nicholls State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1North Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8North Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2North Carolina State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2North Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Northeast Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Northeastern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Northeastern Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Northern Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Northern Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Northwestern State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Notre Dame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First MeetingOhio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4Oklahoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Penn State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Pensacola JC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-0Pittsburgh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4Portland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Portland State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Providence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Purdue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8Rhode Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Rollins College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1

Rutgers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Sacramento State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Saint Louis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12Sam Houston State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5Samford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-2San Diego State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1San Francisco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1San Jose State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Seton Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0SMU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8South Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-17South Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7South Carolina State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Southeastern Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1Southern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Southern Benedictine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-0Southern Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Southern Miss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-20Southwestern Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1Southwest Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Spring Hill College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Stephen F . Austin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2Stetson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1Stillman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5Tennessee State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-0Tennessee Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4Texas A&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0TCU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7Texas-Pan American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Texas-San Antonio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Texas Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-3Toledo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2Towson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Troy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-5Tulane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-17Tulsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9Tuskegee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2UC Davis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First MeetingUCF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6UCLA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1UNC Asheville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1UNC Greensboro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0USF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-35Utah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Utah State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1UTEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2UT Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1UTSA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First MeetingValparaiso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Virginia Commonwealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6Virginia Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2Wake Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Washington State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Weber State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1West Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0West Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Western Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Western Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Western Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-4Western Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1William & Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1Winthrop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2Wisconsin-Green Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Wofford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Wright State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1Wyoming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0Xavier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1Youngstown State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-0* 2012 Opponents in Bold


Volleyball2012

All-Time Letterwinners A Haylee Adkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2006-07Ginny Alexander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1983-85Terri Andrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1984-85Kim Arnold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1991-95

B Denise Bailey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1992-95Bree Barnard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1992-95Hilary Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1988-92Kim Bigham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1979Chelsea Bishop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1993Mary Leah Boggan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1979-81 Shondra Bonovitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1984-87Kathy Bowditch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1994Nicole Bowland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2004-07Karen Boyd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2000-03Ivana Bozic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2005-08Deborah Burgess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1979-81 Donna Burke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1984Laura Burke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1997-00

C Blair Canant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2000Lindsay Carnohan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2003Becky Carr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1979-81Daniela Cavallo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2010Mellissa Cobb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1988-91Shaniquwa Cooper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2004-07Leann Crockett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1986

D Donna Deason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1980-83Heather Dempsey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1997-00Casey Dent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2005-08Heather Dillard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1992-94Fernanda Domingos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2006-07Lilly Domingos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2007-08Gina Doss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1984-87Sharilee Doty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1992-95

E Trisha Eddy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1995-98

F Rachel Fairbanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2010-Renee Fangman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1986-87Molly Farrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1991Denise Feer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1999Kaitlyn Filar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2004Leigh Fincher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1979Belinda Fitzsimmons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1987Ellen Fleisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2001Emily Foreman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2007-09Andrea Fountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1989-90Cassaundra Fuqua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1988-89

G Kirsten Gallagher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2009-Brianna Galvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2003-04, 2006-07Kellyanne Gandy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1995-98Jill Gilmour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1987-88Diane Goodwin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1988Kilee Goetz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2002Kasey Goth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2003Shelly Greene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1998-01Bilun Gunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2003Katrina Gunsorek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1997-99Tiffany Gunsorek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1999

H Kathy Hardwick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1982Angie Harris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1983

Toni Herron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1991-94Carolyn Higgins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1982-84Kiriana Hirini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2011-Nanea Holmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2002Becca Howard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2010-Wendy Huber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1990-93Whitney Hudson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2009

I Hailey Isham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1995-98

J Rachel James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2008-09Jennifer Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1986-88Suzie Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1989-92Meredith Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2004Lindsay Joyce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2000-02

K Dina Katsoulis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1999-02Kerra Kepley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2001Ruth King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1982Linda Kirschbaum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1986-87

L Katrine LaCroix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1987-88Andrea Lalic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2006-09Tonya Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1994-97Kristi Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2001-02Michele Lewis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1980-83Charli Lindley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2004-05Jenna Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2003-04Jessica Liptak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2001Christine Lorentz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1999

M Allison Magner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2001-02Cheri Magsam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1988Chip Mahaffey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1993-94Janet McCrary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1984Jordan McDonald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2008-10Mandy Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1993-96Kate Morrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2010-Michele Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1983-85Jessica Murphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1979-81Julie Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1986-89

N Vicki Norwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1980-81Leah Nye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2007

O Cassi Ociesa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2003-04Isabel Oquendo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2003-05Karyn Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1996-97Laura Opperman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1980-83Stephanie Overfelt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1988-91Sheila Owens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1980-81

P Patty Paniagua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2008-09Savannah Pegg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2008-09Kristen Pettey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1997-00Angie Ping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2004-07Angela Powell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1986Kris Procter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1983Artie Pyeatt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1984-85Robin Pyeatt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1985

R Janette Raczek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1994-95Danielle Reaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1988-91Ashley Ricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2011-

Tammy Robertson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1989-92Lorraine Rogers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1979

S Ashley Sargent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1983-86Patti Schroder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1985-86Cheri Schmidt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1989-90Debbi Schultz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1984-85Tammy Schultz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1984Sam Serley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2009-Molly Shahan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1982-83Martina Shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2000-03Michele Simmons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2010-Ally Slaughter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2010-Kristy Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1998-99Suzay Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1989-92Thais Soares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2010-11Amber Sorensen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2001Veronica Starr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1982Nevena Stefanov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2005-08Karen Steuer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1996-99Tracy Strickland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1982Terri Steeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1995-98Breanne Swenson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2002-03Joanna Szeszycki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2004

T Libby Takenaka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1986-87Aley Tallman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2006, 2009Abby Thatcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1995-98Heather Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2008-11Kim Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1979-81Samanta Tucillo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2002

U Michelle Uzoh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2009-10

V Aleksandra Vujovic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2005-08

W Jill Waddell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1992-93Tammy Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1993-94Lisa Watts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1983Meredith Walker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2003-04Velissa Weatherby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1982Karla Wehrle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1998-99Amy White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2005Beulah Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1979-81MacKenzie Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2008-09Alison Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2009-

* bold indicates current players

Martina Shields


Volleyball2012

NCAA Tournament History

UCLA def. UAB 30-24, 30-21, 30-23

UAB (27-10) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Ivana Bozic 12-4-0; Fernanda Domingos 12-1-1; Casey Dent 10-0-1; Aley Tallman 3-0-2; Shaniquwa Cooper 3-0-1; Nevena Ste-fanov 1-0-0; Totals 41-5-3 .0 . (Assists) - Nevena Stefanov 36 . (Dig leaders) - Brianna Galvin 12; Aleksandra Vujovic 10; Ivana Bozic 8

UCLA (30-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Katie Carter 13-0-4; Nana Meriwether 12-0-5; Kaitlin Sather 10-0-4; Rach-ell Johnson 9-1-6; Ali Daley 6-1-2; Nellie Spicer 5-0-3; Becky Mehring 2-0-0; Jade Machado 0-2-0; Colby Lyman 0-3-0; Totals 57-7-12 .5 . (Assists) - Nellie Spicer 40 . (Dig leaders) - Nellie Spicer 9; Ali Daley 8; Colby Lyman 8

Site: Los Angeles, Calif . (Pauley Pavilion)Date: Dec . 1, 2006 Attend: 887 Time: 1:30

UAB def. Missouri State 25-17, 25-21, 25-17

Missouri State (23-13) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Cara Hack-mann 9-1-0; Bethany Fuller 7-0-3; Sara Staubach 7-0-1; Kelley Michnowicz 5-1-2; Calli Norman 4-0-2; Julia Cawthra 3-0-0; Nikki Vandepopulier 1-0-0; Totals 36-2-5 .0 . (Assists) - Julia Cawthra 26 . (Dig leaders) - Cara Hackmann 14; Terri Del Conte 11

UAB (27-7) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Ivana Bozic 16-0-2; An-drea Lalic 12-2-3; Casey Dent 9-1-0; Savannah Pegg 5-0-0; Lilly Domingos 3-0-6; Nevena Stefanov 1-0-0; Totals 46-3-6 .0 . (Assists) - Nevena Stefanov 39 . (Dig leaders) - Ivana Bozic 14; Aleksandra Vujovic 7

Site: Lincoln, Neb . (NU Coliseum)Date: Dec . 5, 2008 Attend: 4237 Time: 1:20

Nebraska def. UAB 25-14, 25-15, 25-12

UAB (27-8) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Ivana Bozic 10-0-0; Sa-vannah Pegg 8-0-1; Lilly Domingos 4-0-2; Andrea Lalic 3-0-1; Casey Dent 3-0-0; Jordan McDonald 1-0-0; Neve-na Stefanov 1-0-0; Totals 30-0-2 .0 . (Assists) - Nevena Ste-fanov 26 . (Dig leaders) - Nevena Stefanov 8; Ivana Bozic 7

Nebraska (29-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Jordan Larson 15-0-1; Lindsey Licht 12-0-4; Amanda Gates 7-0-3; Tara Mueller 6-1-1; Jordan Wilberger 4-0-4; Sydney Anderson 4-1-2; Totals 48-2-10 .0 . (Assists) - Sydney Anderson 33 . (Dig leaders) - Kayla Banwarth 13; Tara Mueller 10; Jor-dan Larson 10

Site: Lincoln, Neb . (NU Coliseum)Date: Dec . 6, 2008 Attend: 4086 Time: 1:11

2006 2008The First Trip Second Time Around

After defeating Memphis in the finals of the 2006 Conference USA Championship, UAB made the first NCAA tournament appearance in program history. The Blazers traveled to Los Angeles, Calif., for a first-round contest against No. 4 overall seed UCLA. A 3-0 loss to the Bruins capped a historic season in which the Blazers posted 27 victories, their highest win total in 15 years, to just 10 losses.

Despite a loss to Tulane in the 2008 Conference USA Championship, UAB earned the first at-large berth in program history and made its second NCAA tournament appearance in three years. A 3-0 sweep of Missouri State in the opening round marked the Blazers’ first-ever tournament win. UAB was eliminated 3-0 by host and No. 4 overall seed Nebraska in the second round. The 2008 team finished 27-8, reaching the 20-win mark for the third season in a row and ending the year rated No. 22 in the final RPI.


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B rian Mackin was named UAB’s Direc-

tor of Athletics on February 14, 2007 . He moved into the position after spending five years as senior associate athletic director for external affairs for the Blazers . A former UAB baseball let-terman, Mackin has a deep-

rooted passion for the University and its athletics program . With an eye on the future, his commitment to continue to grow the program has been clear in the time since he became athletics director . Mackin’s desire to see UAB excel both on and off the playing field was never more apparent than this past academic year when the Blazers turned in their highest finish in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings in 12 years . He has made success in the classroom and improv-ing athletic facilities two of his top priorities . Mackin was able to secure the first-ever naming rights for the athletics program with the generous gift from Don and Marsha Hire for the Hoke Hire Student-Athlete Academic Center . With the opening of the Academic Center, an abundance of new computer equipment has been added . Mackin has also strengthened the academic area by creating additional staff positions . Under Mackin’s watch, the Academic Reform Group (ARG) was initiated . This group is made up of athletics staff members and academic support staff . With its mis-sion to create an environment of academic excellence in the department, the group addresses every aspect of a student-athlete’s experience while at UAB . Mackin has also demonstrated his commitment to academic success by initiating a penalty structure for student-athletes and making them accountable if they

miss classes or tutorial sessions . Mackin’s priority on academics has paid dividends as the Blazers’ Academic Progress Rates (APR) scores have improved each year under his tenure as AD . The most recent APR report released in June showed that all but three of UAB’s teams have a multi-year rate of 950 or better . Since Mackin became athletics director, a new 10,000-square foot weight room has opened . A new, spacious, state-of the-art athletic training facility opened in the fall of 2008 . With the renovation of the Ullman Building, the Blazers’ Olympic sports coaches have been able to relocate into brand new offices . Other facilities improvements have included the resurfacing of the track for the Blazers’ track and field team . The first phase of the new, on-campus UAB soft-ball facility was completed prior to the start of the 2010 season . This past February, the Don and Alicia Huey Softball Hitting Facility was dedicated . The upgrades and progress of the program under Mackin have not been limited to facilities and academ-ics . In the last two years, the athletics program entered an agreement with Nike that provides apparel and equipment for all of UAB’s athletics teams . In his position as athletics director, Mackin has also been involved on various conference and national com-mittees . He just completed his first year as a member of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee .Mackin came on board at UAB in the spring of 2002 as senior associate AD for external affairs . In that role, he was responsible for fund-raising, corporate support and marketing for the athletic department . In 2006, Mackin was named Division I-A Fund-raiser of the Year by the National Association of Athletic Development Directors . Under Mackin’s leadership, contributions to UAB athletics nearly tripled from $1 .3 million in 2001 to about $3 .7 million in 2006 .

Additionally, he has been responsible for the creation of several affinity groups including the Athletic Inves-tors Group, the Champion Club, and the Blazer Club, which brought together the two annual funds support-ing football and men’s basketball . Prior to joining UAB, Mackin served as Manager of Corporate Business Development at Vulcan Materials, where he was responsible for examining potential new markets for business development and locating growth opportunities in the industry . Mackin earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from UAB in 1983 . He was a member of the Blazer baseball team four seasons and then moved into the Houston Astros baseball organization where he spent one season . Mackin then joined Vulcan Materials, where he held management positions in sales and market analysis . In 1990, he joined Southern Ready Mix as sales manager before joining Dunn Construction in 1993 where he rose to vice president in 1999 . His responsibilities included business development, sales and project man-agement . Mackin’s community activities include the Birming-ham Tip-Off Club, which hosts the State High School Final Four, the Monday Morning Quarterback Club and the Birmingham Rotary Club . He has served as the president of the Birmingham Tip-Off Club . In addition, Mackin is a member of the Public Ath-letic, Cultural and Entertainment Facilities Board of the City of Birmingham (PACE) . Mackin and his wife, Sally, have five children: Rag-land (24), Brian Jr . (22), Ferrell (19), Mary Aileen (18), and Ella (16) .

Brian Mackin, Athletics Director

Dr . Richard Marchase was named interim

president of UAB in August 2012 . An accom-plished scholar, researcher and administrator, Dr . Marchase joined the UAB faculty in 1986 and has risen steadily through the ranks, assuming the posi-

tion of vice president for research and economic development in 2005 .

In that capacity, Dr . Marchase has played a key role in expanding UAB’s efforts in research, technol-ogy transfer and economic development . He chairs the board of the Innovation Depot, the business incubator affiliated with UAB; oversees the UAB

Research Foundation; and coordinates UAB’s efforts with the Alabama Development Office, Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, Birmingham Business Alliance and others . He also is charged with facilitating strong relationships and collaborative efforts with research groups and other universities within the state .

Dr . Marchase is past president of the Association of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Neurobiology Chairs . He has been both president and vice president for Science Policy for the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), which represents more than 100,000 scientists and is recognized as the principal voice of the biomedical research community on issues related to research funding and policy .

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from Cornell University and his doctorate in biophysics from Johns Hopkins University, Dr . Marchase began his academic career at Duke Uni-versity . He was an initial recipient of the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Sci-ence Foundation .

Dr . Marchase is married to Gail Andrews, R . Hugh Daniel Director of the Birmingham Museum of Art .

Dr. Richard Marchase, Interim President

Administration


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Senior Administrative Staff

Shannon EalySenior Associate AD for

External Affairs

Derita RatcliffeSenior Associate AD

Senior Woman Administrator

Danez MarrableAssociate AD forStudent Services

Timothy GarnerAssociate AD forFinancial Affairs

Coleman BarnesAssociate AD

for Development

Brad SmithAssistant AD for

Marketing

Norm ReillyAssociate AD forMedia Relations

Matt WildtAssociate AD for

Ticket Operations &Football Administration

Mike JonesAssistant AD for Athletic Training

Reid AdairAssistant AD for

Facilities and Operations

Dr . Frank Mes-sina has served as

UAB’s faculty athletics representative (FAR) since 2008 . In addition to his duties as faculty athletics representative, Dr . Messina is profes-sor of Accounting &

Finance at the University of Alabama at Birming-ham where he has been on the faculty since 1993 . Dr . Messina received his doctorate in busi-

ness administration (D .B .A .) from Mississippi State University in 1993, a master’s in profes-sional accountancy at MSU in 1990, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of West Alabama in 1986 . He has four times been awarded for UAB Excellence in Classroom Teaching; has received the UAB President’s Excellence in Teaching Award; twice received the Loudell Robinson Excellence in Accounting Teaching Award, the NSAC Silver Pen Research Award and the El Paso Energy Foundation Faculty Achievement Award,

along with several other teaching and research honors . Dr . Messina has published extensively in tax, accounting, and cooperative journals and has pre-sented a variety of seminars around the country over the past several years .

Dr. Frank Messina, Faculty Athletics Representative

UAB Administration

Corey BrayAssociate AD

for Compliance

Brad HardekopfAssistant AD

for Development

Volleyball Support Staff

Stacey TormanStrength & Conditioning

Sharon JohnsonAcademic Services

Ben WarnickMedia Relations

Heather McGowanMarketing

Seongwon ChoiAthletic Training


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From its beginning in 1994, Conference USA’s dedication to excellence has been the league’s guiding principle and re-mains a common thread today and for a promising future . As we enter the 2012-13 season, C-USA is home to 12 nationally prominent, tradition-rich members in East Caro-lina, Houston, Marshall, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, UCF and UTEP . This combination enhances men’s and women’s programs that are immersed in athletic success and academic prowess . Together, we are committed to excel-lence, integrity and leadership in athletics, academics and in our communities .

These C-USA institutions all sponsor Division I-A foot-ball, along with several other men’s and women’s athletic programs that compete regularly for NCAA Champion-ships . C-USA sponsors competition in 20 sports - nine for men (baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis and indoor and outdoor track and field) and 11 for women (basketball, cross country, golf, rowing, softball, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball) .

The league sponsors numerous academic awards, in-cluding the Commissioner’s Honor Roll and the Com-missioner’s Academic Medal, indicative of outstanding achievement in the classroom .

C-USA annually awards 12 postgraduate scholarships, along with the Sport Academic Award, Scholar Athletes of the Year and the Institutional Academic Excellence Award . Conference USA also added a Spirit of Service Award, recognizing student-athletes three times a year for a combination of significant community service ef-forts, good academic standing and participation in their elected sport .

SUCCESS ON THE PLAYING FIELDConference USA performers have achieved great success in competition, placing the league among the top con-ferences in the nation .

Football• 67 teams have earned bowl bids • Member of the Bowl Championship Series• Bowl tie-ins with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St . Petersburg Bowl, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, Military Bowl, R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl and the TicketCity Bowl

Men’s Basketball• Consistently rated as one of the top basketball leagues in the country• 102 postseason teams (49 NCAA, 41 NIT, 6 CBI, 6 CIT)• One National Championship title game appearance• Three Final Four teams• Seven Elite Eight NCAA Tournament teams• One NIT Champion and four NIT semifinalists• Inaugural CBI Champion

Women’s Basketball• 47 NCAA Tournament appearances• 38 WNIT appearances• One team in the NCAA Sweet 16• Two WNIT semifinalists• One WBI Champion

Baseball• 57 NCAA appearances• Six College World Series appearances (2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2001), including five of the last eight• 13 Super Regional appearances• Has produced at least four NCAA teams in nine of the last 11 seasons

In addition, 36 volleyball teams, 61 men’s and women’s soccer teams and 34 softball teams have earned NCAA Tournament bids . C-USA has sent three men’s soccer teams to the NCAA College Cup, three softball teams to the Women’s College World Series and three volleyball teams to the Sweet 16 . The league has also had eight na-tional champions in NCAA track and field competition, one national champion in diving and numerous NCAA individual and team competitors in cross country, golf, swimming, tennis and track and field . Overall, Confer-ence USA teams and individuals have made more than 650 NCAA appearances .

SUCCESS OFF THE FIELDC-USA institutions are among the nation’s best in aca-demic performance among student-athletes, bolstered by the fact that student-athletes at league schools have a higher graduation rate than the general student popula-tion . Among C-USA’s 5,000 student-athletes, there are champions off the playing field as well . In 17 years, 169 student-athletes earned national Capital One Academic All-America honors, while 588 were named All-District . In addition, more than 22,000 student-athletes have been named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll or re-ceived the Commissioner’s Academic Medal, indicative of outstanding achievement in the classroom .

C-USA ON TVC-USA enjoys significant television exposure through partnerships with FOX Sports Media Group, CBS Sports Network and ESPN . The multi-tiered selection process that is rooted in partnering with all three net-works has substantially increased the number of national and regional appearances for football, men’s and wom-en’s basketball, and all other conference sports .

C-USA DIGITAL NETWORKThe C-USA Digital Network officially launched in August of 2011 . Network programming includes live streaming of non-televised events, video on demand, a weekly C-USA studio show, podcasting, regular-season and championship event highlights and conference-pro-duced feature stories . In its first year, 1,164 events were streamed live and 8,126 videos were posted and avail-able on the C-USA Digital Network, and that number just keeps growing . Monthly and yearly subscriptions offer fans access to events offered on all 12 of the C-USA member institution’s athletic websites as well as C-USA network programming .

C-USA IN THE COMMUNITYThe conference’s footprint is concentrated with 12 members in nine states and a combined area population

of nearly 17 million . More than 1 .1 million living alum-ni represent C-USA schools across the nation . With a renewed commitment to community involvement, the conference has begun development of several initiatives to maintain strong ties in C-USA cities, as well as with fans and alumni across the country . C-USA schools also place a priority on giving back to their communi-ties through volunteer service with local and national organizations .

GOVERNANCEConference USA has significant representation in the NCAA governance structure . The Presidents of the member institutions serve as the league’s Board of Di-rectors .

A PROUD HISTORYConference USA was formed in 1995 and quickly emerged as one of the nation’s top conferences . The conference unveiled its name, logo and commissioner April 24, 1995 in Chicago . The league’s charter mem-bers included Charlotte, Cincinnati, DePaul, Houston, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, Saint Louis, Southern Miss, Tulane, UAB and USF . Eleven of the institutions began athletic participation in 1995, while Houston joined competition in the fall of 1996 .

The league’s headquarters were established in Chicago and after nine years, relocated to the current office in Irving, Texas . Britton Banowsky was named Commis-sioner in October 2002, succeeding Mike Slive, the league’s first commissioner .

C-USA added East Carolina (September, 1996) and the United States Military Academy (March, 1997) as football members . ECU began league competition in 1997; Army in 1998 and UAB began football play in 1999 . The league added TCU and ECU (1999) for all sports and they began competition in 2001 . USF start-ed C-USA football in 2003 . After celebrating its 10th Anniversary during the 2004-05 season, Conference USA began a new chapter in 2005-06 when its current membership came together .

A PROMISING FUTURE With more conference realignment taking the stage dur-ing the 2011-12 season, C-USA held onto its strong foundation, identity and a history that reflects the league’s national presence . Conference USA will wel-come six new institutions in 2013, including the return of charter member Charlotte along with FIU, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Old Dominion and UTSA . These six members will join with East Carolina, Marshall, Rice, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB and UTEP . In addition to the outstanding competition and strong athletic achievements these schools bring, the C-USA footprint will grow by nearly 20 percent . Additionally, the geography of these members allows for a divisional scheduling model that will be beneficial to the student-athletes, fan-friendly and cost effective .

These 14 extraordinary institutions and 17 years of re-markable history have reinforced the league’s position in collegiate athletics, setting the course for the next decade and beyond .

Britton BanowskyC-USA Commissioner

Conference USA


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W ith a population of more than 230,000 (more than one million in the met-

ropolitan area), Birmingham has a strong, diverse, service-oriented economy and is rec-ognized as a Southeast leader.

Founded shortly after the Civil War, Bir-mingham rapidly became known as “The Magic City” because of its phenomenal rate of industrial growth in its beginning. Its moun-tainous strata and forest surrounding

the city are rich with ore deposits, and it was that natural wealth that quickly trans-formed young Birmingham into a bustling steel metropolis.

Today, Birmingham continues to earn the distinction, “The Magic City,” but this tribute is due to the city’s economic competitiveness, technological advancements and quality of life — offerings which are sought after by profes-sionals with an eye toward the future.

Birmingham has been recognized as one of America’s “Most Livable Cities” by the U.S. Conference of Mayors — as recently as 1993. Birmingham’s strategic location and diverse economy position the city as one of tremen-dous opportunity and growth.

Centrally located and the largest municipal-ity in Ala bama, the city is home to a number of renowned individuals who have made an impression on the nation and the world in music and entertainment, education, medi-cine and sports, to name a few.

There is never a lack of cultural entertain-ment in “The Magic City”. Dozens of neighbor-hood and city-wide festivals, museums, parks, sports competitions and much more provide unlimited activity and amusement.

Residents and visitors to Birmingham enjoy the city’s recreational and historical attrac-tions such as the Birmingham Zoo, Birming-ham Botanical Gardens, Vulcan Park, Sloss Furnaces, Southern Museum of

Flight and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.Sports enthusiasts will never be at a loss for

activity at the heart of the “Football Capital of the South.” UAB plays all of its home football games at historic Legion Field, which also was the site of preliminary round soccer matches at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Profes-sional athletic teams in the area include the Class-AA Birmingham Barons (baseball).

Several annual fests are held in Birmingham. The biggest is City Stages, held each spring in the downtown City Center. City Stages attracts nearly a quarter of a million people for a three-day weekend of unlimited music.

All of this and more makes Birmingham “The Magic City” to residents and visitors year-round.

The statue of Vulcan — Roman God of Fire and Iron — is the symbol of the city of Birmingham.

The Birmingham Civil Rights Museum stands as a reminder of the past and a beacon of hope for

the future.

BIRmINGHAmThe Magic City



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Summer, 1977: Coach Gene Bartow is hired as UAB’s first intercollegiate Athletics Director and head basketball coach. Preparations begin for the hiring of coaches and support staff, recruitment of student-athletes, establishment of the Golden 100 scholarship foundation, scheduling, etc.

Fall, 1978: UAB athletic teams begin intercollegiate competition for the first time; the university begins an 11-year association with the Sun Belt Conference.

Nov. 24, 1978: The UAB men’s basketball team plays its first game, a 66-54 loss to Nebras-ka before a crowd of 14,800 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center; UAB has gone on to win 20 or more games 15 times, appear in 11 NCAA Tournaments and eight NITs.

March, 1981: The Blazer men’s basketball team defeats Kentucky in the NCAA Mideast Regional, and reaches the NCAA “Sweet 16.” This appearance marks the beginning of a streak of seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments for UAB (1981-87).

March, 1982: UAB adds to its amazing basketball success story, defeating Indiana and Virginia in the Southeast Regional, and reaching the NCAA “Elite Eight.” The Southeast Regional in Birmingham is the first of five NCAA Tournament events to be hosted by UAB (’82, ’84, ’85, ’87, ’88).

March, 1989: Blazer basketball reaches the NIT Final Four, defeating Michigan State for third place at Madison Square Garden.

Fall, 1989: The UAB club football team is organized; the team goes 0-6 in its first season.

1990-91: The Blazer baseball team wins its first Sun Belt Conference Championship and becomes the first UAB team other than men’s basketball to participate in the NCAA Tournament. Men’s tennis wins the first of five consecutive conference championships in the Sun Belt and Great Midwest Conferences. Volleyball wins the first of three consecutive championships in the Sun Belt and Great Midwest conferences and makes its first of four consecu-tive post-season appearances.

1991-92: UAB begins competition in the Great Midwest Conference. The UAB football team begins its first season of varsity play at the Division III level. Blazer volleyball and baseball win the first Great Midwest Championship. UAB places its first men’s tennis players, Frank Schaffner and Karl Steffen, in NCAA Tournament play.

1992-93: Men’s basketball reaches the NIT Final Four, defeating Alabama, Clemson, Southwest Missouri State and Providence. The nationally-ranked UAB men’s tennis team participates in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Blazer volleyball, cross country and tennis teams all win Great Midwest Conference championships.

January, 1993: UAB announces that its football program will compete at the NCAA I-AA level, beginning with the 1993 season.

1993-94: Blazer teams win six league championships, and UAB wins the Great Midwest Conference Commissioner’s Cup, awarded to the university with the most successful overall athletics program. The Blazer basketball team goes 14-0 vs. GMW opponents and makes its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Men’s basketball is nationally-ranked and participates in the NCAA Tournament.

August, 1994: UAB announces that its football program will compete at the NCAA I-A level and that the school will field a women’s soccer team beginning with the 1996 season.

1994-95: UAB soccer wins the Great Midwest Conference championship and participates in the NCAA Tournament. UAB wins GMW championship in men’s and women’s tennis, women’s indoor track & field, women’s outdoor track & field and men’s golf.

April 24, 1995: UAB becomes a charter member of Conference USA.

Proud Past Bright Future



Volleyball2012March 26, 1996: One era ends and another begins as coach Gene Bartow steps down as head men’s basketball coach.

November 14, 1996: Conference USA announces that UAB has been admitted as a football-playing member; the Blazers will begin C-USA play in 1999.

1997-98: UAB freshman Mirela Vladulescu takes the women’s collegiate tennis world by storm, winning both the ITA Clay Court National Championship and Riviera Women’s All-America Championship; she is the first UAB tennis player to win a collegiate grand slam event. Vladulescu will later be the top-ranked player in the NCAA rankings for much of the 1997-98 season. The men’s golf team receives a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school

history.1998-99: The men’s basketball team makes its 10th appearance in the

NCAA Tournament. Mirela Vladulescu returns to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year, despite an injury-plagued season.

1999-00: UAB athletics has arguably its best season to date. The UAB football team becomes an official member of Conference USA and goes

4-2 in conference play during its inaugural season. The UAB men’s soccer team wins the Conference USA Championship and reaches the NCAA “Elite Eight”. Synchronized swimming finishes fourth in

the country at the U.S. Collegiate Championships in its inaugural season. Women’s basketball reaches the “Sweet 16,” the men’s tennis team

makes its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and men’s golf makes its second NCAA Tourna-ment appearance in three years.

July 10, 2000: Gene Bartow announces his retirement as athletics director after 23 years of service to the university.

August 22, 2000: Herman Frazier is named UAB’s second athletics director. Sept. 23, 2000: In what was arguably the greatest win in UAB football history, the

Blazers go to Baton Rouge, La. and upset SEC foe LSU, 13-10, on a game-winning field goal by Rhett Gallego in the waining seconds.

2000-01: Led by sophomore All-American Graeme McDowell, the men’s golf team fin-ished ninth in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to its first NCAA Championship at Duke University, where it garnered a tie for 12th place. Senior women’s tennis player Mirela Vlad-ulescu finished off a four-year career as one of the most successful athletes in UAB history. The men’s soccer team made it to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. The football team finished 7-4 overall, becoming the first “bowl-eligible” Blazer squad since UAB moved to the NCAA I-A level in 1996. The women’s basketball team, led by junior All-American Deanna Jackson, finished the season 20-11 and advanced to the WNIT. In just its second season, the synchronized swimming team placed fourth at the U.S. Collegiate Championships and eighth at the U.S. Nationals.

2001-02: Led by All-American Graeme McDowell, who was the No. 1-ranked golfer in the nation, the UAB men made their third consecutive appearance (fourth overall) in the NCAA Tournament. The Blazer football squad again boasted another “bowl eligible” season, as the team went 6-5 in 2001. The men’s soccer team made its third consecutive trip (fourth overall) to the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the “Sweet 16.” The UAB softball team had its best season to date, advancing to the C-USA Championship game and boasting a 39-22 overall record. Denise Peters and Lisa Nowoslawski of the women’s soccer team were both named Verizon Academic All-Americans. In addition, Peters was named the C-USA Women’s Soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year. Synchronized swimming earned its highest finish to date at the U.S. Collegiate Championships, taking third. Four swimmers received Academic All-America honors and three swimmers were named All-Americans by the U.S. Synchronized Swimming Coaches Committee.

April 4, 2002: Athletics Director Herman Frazier and UAB President Ann Reynolds announce the hiring of Mike Anderson as UAB’s third men’s basketball coach.

November 21, 2002: Watson Brown is named UAB‘s third athletics director.2002-03: In his first season at the helm of the men’s basketball program, Mike Anderson

guided the Blazers to a 21-win season and a quarterfinal finish in the NIT. Lisa Nowoslawski capped off her career for the women’s soccer program by earning several prestigious academic awards, including an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, the C-USA Postseason Scholarship Award and first-team Verizon / CoSIDA Academic All-America honors for the second straight year. The synchronized swimming team posted its second straight third-place finish at the U.S. Collegiate Championships and recorded a fourth place finish, its highest to date, at the U.S. National Championships. Six swimmers received Academic All-America honors and three swimmers were named All-Americans by the U.S. Synchronized Swimming Coaches Committee.

Sept. 4, 2003: The UAB football team plays host to Southern Miss in front of the big-gest crown in UAB history, and the most people ever to watch a Conference USA football game when 44,669 people flocked to Legion Field.

The final score read 13-10 as the UAB football program earned its signature

Mirela Vladulesu took the collegiate tennis world by storm and was the top-ranked

women’s tennis player in the country for much of the 1997-98 season.



Volleyball2012

first bowl game appearance in school history as the Blazers faced Hawai’i in the 2004 Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl. The Blazers fell to the Warriors, 59-40, on Christmas Eve in Honolulu, Hawai’i.

Spring, 2006: The UAB men’s basketball team earned its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament after finishing as Conference USA regu-lar season and tournament runner-up. The synchro-nized swimming team took fourth place at the U.S. Collegiate Nationals. The Blazer softball team turned in one of its finest seasons in program history as the team won 31 games during the season to finish as the C-USA runner-up. Head coach Marla Townsend was named the C-USA Coach-of-the-Year.

April 7, 2006: Mike Davis named as the fourth head basketball coach in program history.

Fall, 2006: UAB’s fall sports teams made three NCAA Tournament appearances, claimed three C-USA titles and beat the No. 1 team in the coun-try. The UAB cross country team won the confer-ence championship and head coach Ray Stanfield was named C-USA Coach of the Year. The women’s soccer team ran through the C-USA Tournament, and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament. UAB’s men’s soccer team beat the No. 1 team in the country during the regular season and hosted a first-round NCAA Tourna-ment game. To conclude the fall sports season, the Blazer volleyball squad won its first-ever Conference USA Tournament title and made its first appearance in the NCAA Tourna-ment.

December 17, 2006: Former Georgia offensive coordinator Neil Callaway was chosen to lead the UAB football team, becom- i n g the third coach in the program’s history, and the second coach to lead the Blazers since becoming a Division I program in 1996.

Spring, 2007: Zack Sucher matched UAB’s highest finish ever at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships, closing the tour-nament tied for fourth place with a five-under 275 during four rounds of play. Sucher became just the fourth UAB men’s golfer in program his-tory to earn All-American status, nabbing a spot on the honor-able mention All-America team.

In addition, the men’s golf team made its fifth NCAA Regional appearance in the past eight years.

February 14, 2007: Former UAB baseball player and alumnus Brian Mackin was selected as the program’s fourth full-time Athletics Director.

Spring, 2008: UAB men’s golf team captures the program’s first-ever Conference USA Cham-pionship. The Blazers went on to make the pro-gram’s seventh NCAA Regional and third NCAA National Championship appearances. Zack Sucher was tabbed second-team All-America and captured four individual titles during the 2007-08 men’s golf season.

May 21, 2008: The UAB baseball team made history by recording the program’s first-ever win over the then-No. 5 Rice Owls, 8-2, in the opening round of the Conference USA Tournament. Not only did the Blazers defeat the Owls for the first time in 10 tries, but it also was the second-highest ranked opponent the baseball team has defeated in program history. The Blazers would go on to match their best-ever result in the C-USA Tournament,

making it to the semifinals.2009-10: The softball team capped

arguably the most successful season in program history with 37 wins and its first

ever NCAA tournament berth. The men’s basketball team also Participated in the post-

season, advancing to the NIT quarterfinals and

hosting defending national champion North Carolina at Bartow Arena. Individually, foot-

ball’s Joe Webb and men’s soccer’s Two-Boys Gumede were selected as C-USA Offensive Play-ers of the Year for

their sports. Jala Harris became the first C-USA wom-

en’s basketball player ever to earn Freshman and Sixth Player of the Year honors in the same season.

Feb. 23, 2010: The UAB softball team opened its new, on-campus facility,

drawing a school-record crowd of 1,323 to its contest with Alabama.

Spring, 2011: The UAB men’s basketball team captured the program’s first-ever outright Conference USA regular season championship. The Blazers were also selected to the NCAA Tournament, marking their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2006 and the program’s 14th NCAA selection in its 32-year history. The softball team earned its second NCAA berth in as many seasons as well. Furthermore, women’s ten-nis standout Jenny Cape became the first Academic All-American for her sport, while track and field also received its first Academic All-America selections, as Nora Mehl and Rhiannon Johns received the nod.

Dec. 5, 2011: UAB’s Director of Athletics Brian Mackin introduced new football head coach Garrick McGee in front of a standing room only crowd in the Green and Gold room inside Bartow Arena. McGee becomes the fourth head coach in Blazer football his-tory.

March 27, 2012: Jerod Haase was introduced as the new UAB men’s basketball coach by Athletic Director Brian Mackin. Haase, who spent the previous nine seasons at North Carolina, helping the Tar Heels to a pair of national championships (2005 and 2011), becomes the fifth head coach in the program’s 34-year history.


The 2006 UAB volleyball team won the C-USA Tournament title and competed in the program’s

first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament.

In 2011, the UAB men’s basketball team secured the program’s first outright Conference USA regular

season championship.

The 2012 UAB baseball team claimed the program’s first-ever Conference USA

Tournament title.


Volleyball2012Men’s Basketball

• 14 NCAA Tournament and 11 NIT appearances

• Eight conference champion-ships

• 28 winning seasons in 34 years• 21 20-win seasons in 34 years• Three Sweet 16 appearances• Four All-Americans

Football

• First bowl game appearance in 2004 (7-5 record)

• First “bowl-eligible” season with 7-4 overall record in 2000

• Played first season at Divi-sion I-A level in 1996; now competes as a member of Conference USA

• Roddy White selected in first round of 2005 NFL draft (No. 27 overall)

• Bryan Thomas selected in first round of 2002 NFL draft (No. 22 overall)

• Eight All-Americans

Men’s Soccer

• NCAA Tournament participant (1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2011)

• 1999 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight and 2001 NCAA Tourna-ment Sweet 16

• Four conference championships (1994, 1995, 1999, 2011)

• Nine All-Americans

Women’s Basketball

• 2000 NCAA Sweet 16 partici-pant


• NCAA Tournament participant (1994, 2000)

• Four-time WNIT participant (1990, 1991, 2001, 2007)

• 2011 WBI Champions• Four All-Americans

Baseball

• Three conference champion-

ships (1991, 1992, 1994)• 2012 C-USA Tournament Cham-

pionship• NCAA Tournament participant

(1991 and 2012)• Shayne Carnes (1998) and

Ryan Keedy (2008) named All-Americans by multiple publications

• Four All-Americans Men’s Tennis

• Six All-Americans• Three Academic All-Americans• Five NCAA Tournament

appearances (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000)

• Top-30 ranking from 1993-2000• Five conference championships

(1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995)

Women’s Tennis


• Six national rankings (1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)

• Top-ranked singles player in nation (Mirela Vladules-cu-1997-98)

• One All-American

Volleyball

• Two-time NCAA Tournament participant (2006 and 2008)


• Five WIVC postseason appear-ances (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992)

• Two Academic All-Americans• Three AVCA All-America honor-

able mention honorees

Men’s Golf

• 2001, 2002, 2008 and 2012 NCAA Championship Partici-pant

• NCAA Regional Participants 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2012

• 2008 Conference USA Champions

• 1995 Great Midwest Conference Champions

• No. 1-ranked golfer and Fred Haskings Award winner (Graeme McDowell)

• Six All-Americans

Track & Field/

Cross Country

• 2002 Cross Country NCAA All-Academic Team

• 1995 Great Midwest Conference Women’s Indoor & Outdoor Champions

• Three All-Americans• 1992 Women’s Great Midwest

Conference Cross Country Champions

• Two Olympic Trials Qualifiers• Cross Country conference

champions, 2006• 2005 Individual Cross Country

C-USA Champion• Eight-time USTFCCCA

All-Academic Team

Softball

• Three-time NCAA Tournament participant (2010, 2011 and 2012)

• 18 NFCA All-American Scholar Athletes

• Seven athletes named Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region

Rifle

• One C-USA Shootout third place finisher

• 1997-98 Individual fifth place finisher at C-USA Champion-ship

Women’s Golf

• Seven All-Conference USA Selections

• C-USA Freshman of the Year (Heather Lourie, 1999)

• Three Scholar-Athletes of the Year

Women’s Soccer

• UAB Academic Award (1997, 1998, 2000)

HighlightsBlazer


Volleyball2012

Men’s BasketballAaron JohnsonJerome MincySteve MitchellOliver Robinson

FootballRodregis BrooksCedrick BuchannonJosh EvansKerry FrazierRobert LeslieDerrick IngramJohn WhitcombRoddy White

Women’s BasketballCarmen GuzmanWanda HightowerDeanna JacksonDiamond Rogers

BaseballShayne CarnesJay ColeMitch JonesRyan Keedy

Men’s SoccerClint BaumstarkPeter ByaruhangaLeandro de OliveiraTony McManusFlavio MonteiroRumbani MunthaliMarin PusekHouston Smith

Women’s SoccerTara Kidwell

Men’s TennisGerd AlbiezMike KirstenPaul RosnerFrank SchaffnerVaughn SnymanMartin Woisetschläger

Women’s TennisMirela Vladulescu

Track/ Cross CountryElizabeth AmbrusVonetta FlowersRhiannon JohnsAngela King

Men’s GolfPaul DickinsonGraeme McDowellGarrett OsbornZack Sucher

Synchronized SwimmingMorgan ClarkeMeryl GrandiaAmanda HaeuserStephanie JacksonStacey JacksonMargareta JakovacStacy LeikerSara PetrovHallie ToddBogdana Zareva

VolleyballIvana BozicSam SerleyNevena Stefanov

Steve Mitchell

Elizabeth Ambrus

Flavio Monteiro

Ryan Keedy

BaseballBrent Laircey

Men’s BasketballCarter Long

FootballJohnny Rea

VolleyballSuzie JohnsonPatti Schroder

Men’s TennisSebastian FalkFrank SchaffnerMartin Woisetschläger

Women’s TennisJenny Cape

Men’s SoccerLane KnightLukasz KwapiszLoucas PapaconstantinouCarl Woszczynski

Women’s SoccerDanielle BlairBrianna McCartyLisa NowoslawskiDenise PetersJill PortoVanessa Woodward

Synchronized SwimmingVanessa DashAndrea DashKelli DickersonAmanda HaeuserFrances HalloranStacey Jackson

Stephanie JacksonRebecca JohnsonKristen KramerStacy LeikerKaren MeyerSara PetrovSarah PikalMoraine RuddickHallie Todd

SoftballAmanda ByrneAllison DavisAmanda EllisCandice HitheKris LaraEmily ScarbroughMegan Stephenson

Track/Cross CountryRhiannon JohnsNora Mehl

Academic All-Americans

All-AmericansUAB



Volleyball2012

Graeme McDowellYears At UAB: 1999-2002• Captured the 2010 U.S. Open Champion-ship – the first major title by a former UAB

golfer and the first U.S. Open win by a Euro-pean player in nearly 40 years

• Has won eight professional tourna-ments, six of which have come on

the European Tour• A member of Europe’s Ryder Cup Team in 2008 and helped lift his team to the trophy in 2010

• Named 2010 ASWA Professional Athlete of the Year and GWAA

Golfer of the Year• Ranked as high as No. 4 in the

world golf rankings• First-team All-America selection and C-USA Golfer of the Year in 2001 and 2002

• Winner of the 2002 Fred Haskins Award, given annually to the nation’s top collegiate golfer

Roddy WhiteYears At UAB: 2001-04• Drafted No. 27 overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2005• Was named as an NFL All-Pro wide

receiver in 2010• Became the first UAB alum to earn an

invitation to the NFL Pro Bowl, receiving the nod in four consecutive seasons (2008-2011)

• First Falcon ever to have 80 catches and 1,100-plus yards in four straight seasons

(2007-10)• Collected 71 receptions for an NCAA-leading

and C-USA-record 1,452 yards and a C-USA-record 14 touchdowns as a senior in 2004• Ranks second in the UAB record books in career receptions (163), receiving yards (3,112) and receiving touchdowns (26)

Vonetta (Jeffrey) FlowersYears At UAB: 1992-95• Inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2010• Made history at the 2002 Winter Olym-pics in Salt Lake City, becoming the first and only former UAB athlete to earn an Olympic Gold Medal• Captured the Gold in the bobsled as the first black athlete (male or female in any country) to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics• Selected to carry the American flag in the 2002 closing ceremonies• Honored as the 2002 USOC Team of the

Year with teammate Jill Bakken• All-American in track & field at UAB, where she still holds

numerous school records

Deanna JacksonYears At UAB: 1998-2002• First and only UAB player selected in the WNBA Draft, chosen eighth over-all by the Cleveland Rockers in 2002• Competed with USA Basketball on the 2000 Jones Cup Team that won the Gold in Taipei• Only women’s basketball player in C-USA and UAB history to record more than 2,000 career points and

1,000 career rebounds• Two-time C-USA Player of the Year (2000-01, 2001-02)

and the league’s Freshman of the Year in 1999• UAB career leader in rebounds (1,118) and ranks second

in school history in points (2,144) Bryan Thomas

Years At UAB: 1998-2001• Selected No. 22 overall by the New York Jets in 2002, becoming the Blaz-ers’ highest-ever NFL draft pick• Entering his 11th year as a Jet with 145 career games played, compil-ing 91 starts, 404 tackles, 31 sacks, seven forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries• Ranks as UAB’s all-time leader in

career sacks (36) and tackles for loss (56)• Led the “Steel Shield” defense in 2001, which topped

the nation in rushing defense (57.3 yards per game) and was ranked No. 5 in the nation in total defense (265.9 yards per game)

Dejan JakovicYears At UAB: 2005-07

• A starting defender for D.C. United in Major League Soccer• Formerly played for Red Star Bel-grade in Serbia’s First Division• Has made 16 international appear-ances for the Canadian National Team• A three-time all-conference selec-tion at UAB• Twice earned first-team all-region

honors

Chris HammondYears At UAB: 1985• Drafted in 1986 by Cincinnati Reds and made major league debut in 1990• Pitched 14 seasons in the major leagues, including four with the Reds and five with the Florida Marlins, finishing his career with an overall record of 66-62 and a 4.14 ERA

• Pitched in the 2003 World Series with the New York Yankees

• Known more as a hitter at UAB, posting a .275 average with 32 runs scored and 16 RBI in 1985

At The Next LevelExcellence



Volleyball2012

One of the most respected figures in inter-collegiate athletics, Gene Bartow, forged

the UAB athletic program into a well-rounded organization with outstanding teams in several sports. Bartow, considered the “founding father” of UAB athletics, grew the intercollegiate sports program there from its infancy into one that fea-tured 17 sports and an annual operating budget of more than $8 million by the time he retired from the position in 2000.

Bartow, who passed away Jan. 3, 2012 after a near-ly three-year battle with cancer, guided the program through three conference changes, grew the football team from a club sport into a Division I-A program, and added several women’s sports to the university’s athletics roster.

Bartow was at the helm of the UAB men’s basketball pro-gram for 18 seasons, compiling a record of 366-203 (.643) during his tenure. He led the Blazers to the NIT in the pro-gram’s second year of existence, and followed that up with seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including trips to the Sweet 16 in 1981 and the Elite Eight in 1982. In all, he led UAB to 14 postseason appearances, nine of which were NCAA Tournaments.

In addition to his time at UAB, Bartow is one of the top college basketball coaches of all time. By the time he retired from collegiate coaching in 1996, he had led teams for 34 years at six universities (Central Missouri State, Valparaiso, Memphis State, Illinois, UCLA and UAB), compiling 647 wins, 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, two Final Four appear-ances, one national title game appearance and one national Coach of the Year Award (both with Memphis State in 1973), and no probation problems with the NCAA.

In 2009, Bartow received the ultimate honor as he was inducted into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame. He entered the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1989 and is also a member of both the Missouri Bas-ketball Hall of Fame and the Northeast Missouri Athletic Hall of Fame.

The Browning, Mo. native coached 34 years at six universities. He coached at Central Missouri State University from 1961-64, Valparaiso University from 1964-1970, Memphis State University from 1970-74, and he led the Tigers to the ‘73 NCAA national championship game and consecu-tive Missouri Valley Conference titles in the ‘71-’72 and ‘72-’73 seasons. In 1974 Bartow accepted the head coaching position at the University of Illinois. Illinois finished 8-18 in his only season coaching the Fighting Illini, and Bartow left his position to succeed John Wooden as the head coach of UCLA. Bartow coached at UCLA from 1975 to 1977, guiding them to a 52-9 record, including a berth in the 1976 Final Four. Bartow left UCLA after the 1977 season to take over the job of creating an athletic program at UAB.

Bartow retired from coaching in 1996, and in 1997, UAB renamed its basketball venue, Bartow Arena, in his honor. The Birmingham News has voted him one of the top 10 most influential figures in Alabama sports for the past century.

Bartow is survived by his wife, the former Ruth Huffine, and three children, Mark, Beth and Murry, who is the head men’s basketball coach at East Tennessee State.

Gene BartowAlabama Sports Hall Of Fame ’89

National College Basketball Hall Of Fame ’09

• UAB head basketball coach (1977-96)• UAB’s first Athletics Director (1977-2000)• Nine NCAA Tournament appearances at

UAB• 14 postseason appearances during 18-year

coaching career at UAB• 11 20-win seasons during UAB coaching

career tenure• 647 career coaching victories• 366 victories at UAB• Led UAB to NCAA Sweet 16 in 1981 and

Elite Eight appearance in 1982 • Voted by the Birmingham News as one of

the top-10 influential figures in Alabama sports over the past century

“Founding Father” of UAB Athletics



Volleyball2012

2004 Blazer Football

UAB AT A GLANCEUAB is a young, dynamic university that has, over four decades, won interna-tional renown for its leading-edge research, medical care and academic pro-grams at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Home to more than 17,500 students and 2,000 faculty members, UAB impacts every facet of the Birmingham community, improving the lives of residents through innovative health care, education, and active service and engagement. On a campus encompassing 86 city blocks, breakthroughs are made daily in the arts and sciences, business, dentistry, education, engineering, health profes-sions, medicine, nursing, optometry and public health.

In more than 80 interdisciplinary research centers all over campus, faculty and students are pushing the envelope in science and medicine, developing new treatments and cures for conditions ranging from cancer to Alzheimer’s to heart disease. UAB’s physician-researchers, and the facilities in which they work, are recognized as among the best in the nation.

UAB’s impact on its community and state is tremendous, and is seen not only in improved education and health care, but in a stronger economy. As Alabama’s largest single employer, UAB has some 18,000 employees and is responsible for more than 61,000 jobs statewide (that’s one of every 33 jobs), and has an annual economic impact of $4.6 billion. One of every 25 dollars in the state’s budget is generated by UAB.

UAB enriches Birmingham’s cultural landscape through a diver-sity of people and activities such as athletics, performing arts, theatre, social service, and much more.

• UAB has seen record overall enrollment for three consecutive years. In fall 2011, UAB welcomed 17,575 students and its largest freshman class ever (over 1,600), with two-thirds of those freshmen living on campus.

• Forbes lists UAB among the top 20% of all U.S. undergraduate institutions and The Princeton Review has ranked the university in the top 10 nationally for student diversity for three consecutive years (currently 5th).

• An exciting nexus of the sciences, business and education, and the arts and humanities, UAB is forging the ideas and technologies of tomorrow with intensely collaborative research and scholarship. It’s where creativ-ity and innovation are campus traditions—and where successful futures begin.

Bharat Soni, one of America’s top computing experts and a UAB engineering professor, has created a high-performance virtual reality lab on campus.

www.uab.edu

A University Forging the Future


Volleyball2012

• The UAB School of Health Professions provides advanced opportunities and is one of the largest schools of its type in the nation, with 21 innovative programs at the baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degree levels within six departments: Critical Care, Diagnostic and Therapeautic Sciences; Health Services Administration; Nutrition Sciences; Occupational Therapy; and Physical Therapy. U.S. News & World Report ranks several SHP programs among the nation’s top 25.

• UAB Kirklin Clinic is a state-of-the-art, full-service clinic that furnishes a full range of adult outpatient care. Housing more than 25 specialties and more than 700 specialists under one roof, UAB Kirklin Clinic conve-niently provides in-house diagnostic testing, surgery services, a pharmacy and educational seminars.

• Several graduate programs at UAB have been recognized for excellence nationally. In the most recent ranking by U.S. News & World Report of graduate programs, the School of Nursing ranks 26th overall, with the School of Medicine being 27th and the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics 58th. Individual programs also have been cited, with the AIDS program within the School of Medicine ranked 5th and the School of Health Profession’s health administration program ranked 7th.

• UAB is ranked 31st nationally for federal research and development funding, attracting over $460 million in 2010, and is 21st in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

• UAB is among a handful of universities classified by the Carnegie Foundation for both “high research activity” and “community engage-ment,” which suggests how effectively the university harnesses that research to benefit the community—in terms of the economy, edu-cation, better health, and quality of life.

• Recent breakthroughs include a novel bio-coating for cardiac stents that significantly reduces the need for follow-up surgery; using remote satel-lite imaging to discover ancient ruins in Egypt, featured in a recent BBC documentary; a new collaboration with HudsonAlpha (Huntsville) investi-gating the genetic roots of Parkinson’s disease; the opening the Materials Processing and Application Development (MPAD) facility, the largest aca-demic research facility of its kind in the nation, offering the rare capability of developing both metals and composites under one roof.

• Innovation Depot, in which UAB is a founding partner, was recently named the Top High-Tech Business Incubator in the nation by the National Business Incubation Association. As the largest incubator in the Southeast, the Depot was responsible for 75 tenant compa-nies and $274 million in sales impact in 2010 (and $1.4 billion in sales impact over the past five years).

• Physician-researchers are at the top of their fields, serving as editors-in-chief of 25 peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals, and in high-level national posts—UAB faculty are currently serving as President of the American Cancer Society and President-elect of the American Heart Association, and an alumna, Dr. Regina Benjamin, is U.S. Surgeon General.

• UAB Hospital is the largest in the state and among the largest and most complex in the nation (1,146 beds), and the only Alabama hospital listed for 22 straight years in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals” issue, which lists only 3 percent of hospitals nationwide. In the current issue, UAB has six medical specialties in the top 25.

• UAB is the largest academic medical center in Alabama and one of the top four largest aca-demic medical centers in the United States, treating 1,187,230 patients last year.

• UAB provides vital resources and services that are offered nowhere else in Alabama, such as an adult level 1 trauma center, a burn center, and a Level III (highest level) regional neonatal intensive care unit.

• UAB’s Comprehensive Cancer Center was one of the nation’s first such centers designated by the National Cancer Institute and remains the only one in Alabama and a six-state region.

• The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has designated UAB as one of only six Diabetes Research and Training Centers in the country, putting the university at the forefront in develop-ment of new methods to treat, prevent and, ultimately, cure diabetes.

A Leading-Edge Research Enterprise

Top-Quality Health Care


Volleyball2012

• Former UAB men’s golfer Graeme McDowell (right) won the U.S. Open in 2010. At UAB, he was the nation’s No. 1-ranked collegiate golfer in 2002.

• In 34 seasons of competition, the Blazer men’s basketball team has enjoyed 29 winning seasons, has made 25 trips to postseason tournaments (14 NCAA, 11 NIT), and has won eight conference championships. With the 2011 NCAA berth, the Blazers have reached postseason play in eight of the past nine years (4 NCAA, 4 NIT). UAB advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2004, knocking off tournament No. 1 seed Kentucky in the second round.

• The UAB softball team made its first NCAA tournament appear-ance in 2010 and made a return trips in 2011 and 2012. The Blazers defeated Florida State in the first round of the 2011 Athens Regional for their first ever NCAA tourney win.

• The Blazer volleyball team has made two NCAA tournament appearances in the past six years (2006 and 2008). The program earned its first NCAA tournament victory in 2008 with a first-round win over Missouri State.

• Blazer football earned its first postseason bowl appearance with a

berth in the 2004 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. The Blazers have finished as Conference USA runner-up three times since they became a football-playing member of the league.

• The men’s soccer team advanced to the NCAA Championships for the sixth time overall in 2011. The team won the 1999 C-USA Championship and advanced to the NCAA Final 8.

• The UAB women’s soccer team has won the C-USA Tournament title twice (2004 and 2006), earning NCAA trips both years. In 2003, the UAB women captured the C-USA regular season title.

• The Blazers field 17 intercollegiate teams as a Division I member of the NCAA and a founding member of Conference USA.

• Vonetta Flowers, a former UAB track & field All-American, made history in February of 2002 when she won a Gold Medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. Flowers became the first Winter Olympics Gold Medalist ever from Alabama when she teamed with Jill Bakken to capture the two-woman bobsled competition.

Athletic Achievements

• UAB offers one-of-a-kind programs, such as the only undergradu-ate biomedical engineering degree, the only industrial distribution degree in the Southeast, and one of only four forensic accounting and IT concentrations in the nation.

• UAB also offers unrivaled research and scholarship opportunities for students at all levels, ranking 1st among all public universities in fed-eral research funding per incoming freshman. Of the 138 undergradu-ates enrolled in the Science and Technology Honors Program (part of the acclaimed UAB Honors Academy) in 2010-11, 35 were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

• In the U.S. News & World Report rankings of graduate programs, UAB has 13 programs in the top 25 and five in the top 10: Master’s in health administration, 5th; School of Medicine’s AIDS program, 6th; Medicine’s primary care, 10th; nurse practitioner (adult), 10th; nursing service administration, 10th.

• The Scientist ranked UAB 22nd nationally (and 6th among public universities) in its “Best Places to Work as a Postdoctoral Fellow” issue.

• UAB’s Alys Stephens Center is celebrating its 15th anniversary as Birmingham’s “home for the performing arts,” housing a 1,330-seat concert hall, intimate recital hall and state-of-the-art theatres. With 24 Steinway pianos in its music department, UAB is Alabama’s first “All-Steinway School” and one of only 125 in the world.

• The School of Nursing is designated as a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for International Nursing, one of only 10 such centers in the U.S. and 45 in the world.

• Just in the past three years, UAB students earned 8 Goldwater Scholarships, 7 Fulbright scholarships, 3 Phi Kappa Phi Fellowships and an NIH-Oxford-Cambridge Scholarship (one of only 15 in the nation).

Challenging, Distinctive Academic Programs

www .uabsports .com

• UAB is one of only two academic institutions avail-able nationwide receiving requests for Crew Robotics and Vehicle Equipment (CRAVE) for NASA’s International Space Station, space shuttles, and beyond. Lee Moradi, CRAVE program manager in the Center for Biophysical Science and Engineering, says UAB will design, test, and manufacture high-precision research instruments and thermal carriers, he also foresees additional work to develop extravehicular activity and robotics equipment, crew health and con-ditioning systems, and environmental control and life-support technology.


Volleyball2012

The Sports Medicine staff provides for all 16 varsity teams and 350 University of

Alabama at Birmingham student-athletes with high quality health care. Student-athletes have access to the leading sports medicine and health care professionals.

The Sports Medicine staff consists of team physicians, dentists, athletic trainers and a sports nutritionist. The daily care, prevention, evaluation and treatment of injuries is super-vised by a staff of seven full-time and five graduate assistants that have been certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) and licensed by the state of Alabama.

The Sports Medicine program is under the direction of Mike Jones; his full-time athletic trainers are Melissa Adams, Laurie Fincher,

Bryan Koch, Greg Mytyk, Daniel Springer and Jennifer Wallace. Graduate assistant trainers Seong Choi, Matt Fisher, Ellen Harris, Daniel Lindsay, Ian McComb and Logan Speicher complete the staff.

Team physicians are affiliated with the acclaimed UAB Health System, health profes-sional school and the UAB Sports Medicine. U.S. News & World Report and other national

publications consistently rank UAB’s innovative programs and expert specialists among the best in America. The Medical Director of UAB Sports Medicine is Dr. William Garth, an ortho-pedic surgeon. He is responsible for all services provided to student-athletes. General medical care is provided by Dr. Brenda Baumann and Dr. Marshall Crowther.

In the fall of 2008, the Wallace Building Athletic Training Room opened. The 9,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility offers the finest therapeutic modalities and rehabilita-tive equipment. It has an extensive collection of therapeutic and rehabilitation equipment including a BTE isokinetic testing machine and hydrotherapy tanks. The Wet Room features two free standing dual-tank consoles that offer whole-body and extremity immersion in either warm or cold hydrotherapy. UAB has the largest dual-tank console that has a stain-less steel tank with a capacity of 1,450 gallons of water and can accommodate up to 25 foot-ball student-athletes at a time. In addition to the Wallace Building Facility, auxiliary athletic training rooms are located in Bartow Arena

and in Young Memorial Field.

Sportsmedicine


Bryan KochAssociate

Athletic Trainer

Mike JonesAssistant AD

Athletic Training

Dr. Brenda Baumann

Team Physician

Dr. Marshall Crowther

Team Physician

Dr. William Garth

Team Physician


Volleyball2012

In the fall semester, 2008, the Wallace Building Athletic Training Room opened its doors. UAB student-athletes began enjoying a brand-new, state of the art athletic training facility. The new 9,000 square foot center allows the athletic training staff to work more efficiently and gives the student-athletes a much

more comfortable facility.


Greg MytykAssistant

Athletic Trainer

Jen WallaceAssistant

Athletic Trainer

Laurie FincherAssistant

Athletic Trainer

Daniel SpringerAssistant

Athletic Trainer

Melissa AdamsAssistant

Athletic Trainer


Volleyball2012

Associate Athletic Director for Student Ser-vices Danez M. Mar-

rable-Lockhart oversees a staff of eight full-time advi-sors, a learning specialist, reading and writing spe-cialist and five assistants in the Don M. & Marsha Hoke Hire Student-Ath-lete Academic Center. Their mission is to pro-vide the highest qual-ity of academic support, counseling and guidance to UAB student-athletes by promoting academic excellence, self-responsi-bility, personal and pro-fessional growth.

Marrable-Lockhart and her staff act as a liaison between the student-athlete, coach-es and UAB’s academ-ic communities and ensures that student-athletes comply with academic rules estab-lished by the university, the NCAA and Confer-ence USA. The staff also coordinates academic programs designed to assist the student-ath-letes in acquiring a quality education as well as programs to promote personal and career development.

UAB’s Student Services program wants to make certain that student-athletes succeed to their highest academic ability. Inherent in the program is the philosophy that student-athletes take responsibility for their own growth and development while receiving maximum sup-port. The academic unit’s goals are to prepare student-athletes for viable careers, to assist them in securing degrees and to produce responsible citizens.

The athletic advisors, in conjunction with specific major advisors, work with student-ath-letes on a regular basis on necessary require-

ments for their chosen degree. The advisors also help plan class schedules, keeping in mind academic stand-ing, practice, travel and compe-

tition schedules. In addition, athletic advisors regularly review the performance and class atten-dance of all student-athletes to help them keep on pace toward graduation.

In addition, the Life Skills pro-gram is run through this office. This NCAA program centers around the five commitments (academics, athletics, per-sonal development, career development and commu-nity service) and was creat-ed to support the student-athlete development initiatives and e n h a n c e the qual-ity of t h e s t u -d e n t -athlete e x p e r i -e n c e

within the context of higher education.

Finally, the Student-Athlete Advisory Com-mittee (SAAC) is advised through the student services offices. This group, the ‘voice’ of the student-athletes, is com-posed of representatives from each team. At UAB, this group works to promote UAB athletics, organizes community service efforts, provides administration with the voice of the student-athletes and works to ensure student-athlete welfare and success in the Birmingham community.

UAB’s commitment to academic excellence

got a boost in the summer of 2008 with the completion of the Don M. & Marsha Hoke Hire Student-Athlete Academic Center. Under the direction of athletics director Brian Mackin, and with a generous donation from Don M. & Marsha Hoke Hire, UAB was able to completely renovate the academic center and provide first-class facilities to the Blazers’ student-ath-letes.

Sitting in the middle of UAB’s athletic com-plexes, including Bartow Arena and

the football practice facilities, the Hoke Hire

Student-Athlete Aca-demic Center serves as the home for over-seeing the educa-tional development

and progress toward graduation for all stu-

dent-athletes.

Academics(Student-athletes achieving

cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better)

Rachel Fairbanks

Kiriana Hirini

Becca Howard

Kirsten Gallagher

Mariah McCallum

Kate Morrell

Sam Serley

Lindsay Simmons

Thais Soares

Ally Slaughter

Heather Thomas

Michelle Uzoh

Alison Woods

2011-12 C-USA Commissioner’s

Honor Roll

Danez Marrable

Associate Athletic Director for Student Services

Sharon Johnson

Academic Advisor

Amy Nicholas

Learning Specialist

Josh Watson

Academic Advisor

Wayne Hamberger

Learning Specialist

Drew Barnette

Academic Advisor

Kelsey Lester

Academic Advisor

Morgan Mercer

Academic Advisor


Volleyball2012• Completed in the Summer of 2008

• Houses a director, a learning specialist, sevenfull-time advisors and five assistants

• More than 50 tutors and mentors

• Over 40 computers available for student use

• Computer lab for general student use

• Learning lab

• Laptops for student-athlete checkout

• Mentor meeting room

• Nine small group and one-on-one tutor rooms

• Five large group study areas

• Staff conference room

• Tutor/mentor resource library

Don M. & Marsha Hoke Hire Student-Athlete Academic Center

(L-R) Marsha and Don Hire, Mr. Charles J. Hoke and

UAB Athletics Director Brian Mackin cut the ribbon

on the new Academic Center in 2008.

(L-R) 2012 UAB volleyball seniors

Thais Soares & Heather Thomas


Volleyball2012UAB’s Strength and Conditioning program, the Blazers’ staff and student-athletes can

now boast of having one of the finest facilities around .

The new center opened in January of 2008 and houses a 10,000 square-foot weight room that features more than 40,000 pounds of free weights.

Strength and conditioning coach Stacy Torman works with members of the Blazer voleyball team to develop training programs

and enhance each athlete’s performance.Torman has more than 20 years experi-

ence in the area of strength and condition-ing at UAB and has produced three NSCA All-Americans.

Torman’s work is instrumental in the team’s fitness level and preperation for the season.

Torman and the Blazers moved into their new strength and conditioning area in Bell Gymnasium, more than tripling the size of

the area they had utilized previously in Bar-tow Arena. The bright and spacious weight room area includes state-of-the-art equip-ment for weight training, stretching and conditioning workouts.

Torman uses a variety of techniques to assist the Blazers in achieving maximum performance and potential. With a heavy emphasis on Olympic style weightlifting, the program concentrates on speed, power, and strength.

Strength &Conditioning

Stacey TormanVolleyball Strength &Conditioning Coach


Volleyball2012


Volleyball2012The state-of-the-art, $25 million Cam-pus Recreation Center has covered all

the bases. It boasts 18,000 square feet of weight and fitness space outfitted with all-new equiptment and a one-eighth-mile oval running track that juts out of the building, curving toward University Boulevard and 15th Street South to provide panoramic views of the campus. And just to make sure no one gets bored, planners added a five-story, rock-climbing wall.

The facility features four basketball courts, five racquetball courts, one of which converts to a squash court and a multi-purpose court that can be used for indoor soccer, volleyball, floor hockey or badminton. There are also four aerobic rooms and a swimming pool with four lap lanes and leisure and physical rehabilita-tion areas.

The handicap-accessible pool has many special features. A continuous current in the “lazy river” carries swimmers around the outer edge of the pool in inner tubes – the ride ends under a waterfall – or individuals can walk against the flow as a part of a physi-cal rehabilitation program. For more intense resistance training, center members can use the “vortex,” a circular area within the pool

with forceful water jets. One of the four aerobics rooms is dedi-

cated to spinning; the others host Pilates, general aerobics, yoga, step, and kickboxing classes along with other specialty offerings.

The facility also includes the Kids Zone, a supervised area – equipped with toys, books, and movies – where parents can drop off children while they work out. The center also has a juice bar, wireless internet access, and an Outdoor Pursuits Center that rents

camping gear and leads backpacking, raft-ing, and skiing trips to desitnations around the United States. The first floor houses a wellness center that coordinates with UAB groups to offer nutritional counseling, body-fat measurements, personal training, and general fitness assessments.

Campus Recreation Center

2012 UAB Volleyball Fact Book

Documents

Transcript of 2012 UAB Volleyball Fact Book