Though many Blazers fans have their eyes on the 2022 football season kicking off Thursday at Protective Stadium, other Blazer squads are still drawing attention early on in their 2022 campaigns.
Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams are off to hot starts, and the volleyball team has already picked up a win just one week into the season.
The cross-country team is poised to build off their several top-ten finishes in the 2021 campaign, meaning Blazers fans have a reason to be excited about all fall sports, not just football.
Here is a brief look into what to expect from the Blazer squads in the coming months:
Cross-Country
The cross-country team opens the season at the Foothills Invitational on September 2.
A season ago, the Blazers accomplished top-ten finishes at three meets, including an eighth-place finish at the Conference USA championship. With a 24th-place finish at the NCAA South regional to end the season, the Blazers are hoping to build off their momentum from 2021.
The Blazers will compete in four regular-season invitationals in 2022 before heading to the C-USA championship in October, including the Blazer Invitational in Montevallo on October 14.
Women’s Soccer
While the Blazers have already kicked off the 2022 season, excitement is still brewing in the Magic City.
Defender Asha Zuniga was selected as the preseason Conference USA Defender of the Year and has already lived up to the hype by being selected as the Defensive Player of the Week in the first week of the season.
Despite a loss to a ranked Memphis team, UAB racked up wins over Chattanooga and Kennesaw State and is now looking to continue its form as they travel out west this week to take on Arizona and Arizona State.
Men’s Soccer
Just like the women’s team, the men’s soccer team is off to a hot start in the 2022 campaign. UAB’s men’s soccer team will be the only Blazers to compete in the American Athletic Conference this season, giving them an opportunity to set the stage for the rest of the Blazer squads who join the conference in 2023.
Coming off an opening weekend where the Blazers picked up wins over Queens College and College of Charleston, UAB has a huge opportunity ahead of them with top-ten foe Wake Forest coming to town on Saturday.
While the Blazers have proven their prowess on offense in the first two games of the season, their defense is what has powered their undefeated start, as they are yet to concede a goal in the 2022 campaign.
Football
Coming off arguably the biggest win in program history against 13th-ranked BYU to end the 2021 season, the Blazers are poised for a historic 2022 campaign.
While UAB will no longer be led by program pillar Bill Clark, interim coach Bryant Vincent has the Blazers positioned to compete for yet another C-USA championship.
With quarterback Dylan Hopkins entering his second year as a starter, the offense — which averaged nearly 30 points a game in 2021 — is set to explode in the team’s final year in Conference USA. Running back DeWayne McBride — who last year was placed on C-USA’s Second Team and on watch lists for the Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards — is looking to improve on a year where he rushed for nearly 1,400 yards and scored 13 touchdowns.
UAB’s defense has proven itself a worthy opponent since the return in 2017, and while the squad has seen the departure of a few key starters, they should be in position to be one of the best defensive units in the conference.
If the Blazers can replicate success on both sides of the ball, UAB could be looking at one of the best seasons in the program’s history.
Volleyball
After an up-and-down 2021 campaign, the Blazers are looking to establish their dominance in their final year in Conference USA.
For UAB, taking advantage of opportunities in close matches will be crucial to their success in 2022, as the Blazers dropped five matches where they captured at least one set last year.
Despite a slow start to the 2022 campaign, UAB is looking to gain momentum as they make their home debut in Bartow Arena this weekend. A win over Cleveland State to end the Blazers’ road trip to Buffalo this past weekend could prove to be a massive boost to morale as they take on Jackson State, Little Rock and Samford in the coming days.
If the Blazers can make it through non-conference play with a decent record, they should be on track to have one of the better finishes in Conference USA.
