Boiling Springs, N.C. - The 2006 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament champion Gardner-Webb Bulldogs found out on Monday afternoon that they will face off with the University of Alabama-Birmingham in Birmingham, Ala. this weekend.

The Bulldogs (9-7-3), which became Gardner-Webb's first ever recipient of an NCAA Division I automatic bid, will take on UAB for the first time in the program's history.

"We are just delighted to be in the tournament," said head coach Tony Setzer. "It did not matter who we drew because wherever we are going to go, we are going to go there and just play hard."

"It's no surprise at all that we are going to play UAB because we know they are a good team, but their team that is not out of our reach," said senior goalkeeper and captain Tyler Kettering. "It's good to see a team like us, that battled hard to get there and we are excited to be able to be in this position."

The Blazers come into the NCAA tournament with a record of 10-6-3 and a 4-3-1 in Conference USA play. Throughout the season UAB had key wins over Notre Dame, UNC Greensboro, Kentucky, South Carolina and SMU, who was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time.

The Blazers are coming off a disappointing tie with SMU in the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament, in which SMU knocked them out of the tournament by advancing 3-1 in penalty kicks after the teams played to a 1-1 draw.

The match is scheduled for Saturday, November 11 at 1 p.m central time.

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