Tide Volleyball Opens Week of Road Trips Tuesday at USM
9/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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TUSCALOOSA - The University of Alabama volleyball team will play a trio of road matches this week beginning on Tuesday night when the Tide visits Southern Mississippi at 7 p.m.
Alabama (11-1, 2-0 SEC) is coming off another successful week that saw the team post a pair of impressive wins in Southeastern Conference play. UA swept rival Auburn (3-0) at home before outlasting Kentucky (3-2) on the road last Friday night.
The match with Southern Miss (3-6) marks the final regular season non-conference tilt for the Tide. The Golden Eagles will be playing their first home match of the year and are looking to halt a four-match losing skid.
USM owns a 9-6 advantage in the all-time series with the Tide including a 3-1 win last year in Tuscaloosa. Alabama is just 1-3 in four visits to Hattiesburg, but Bama posted a 3-1 victory in their last visit in 2001.
Senior All-American Erin Heffner continues to lead the SEC and rank third in the nation for kills per game at 5.85. Heffner climbed to fifth on the SEC's all-time kill list and needs just 21 more to move up to fourth. She also became the Tide's all-time attempt leader last weekend and is just 15 digs shy of 1,000 for her career.
Fellow senior Julie Farley ranks second in the SEC for hitting percentage while freshman setter Brigitte Slack is listed third in the league for assists. A trio of Tide players including Heffner, Kory Tull and Jessica Yeaourt rank among the league's Top 10 in service aces.
Following their match at USM, Alabama will play a pair of road SEC contests this weekend at Georgia (Friday) and No. 5 Florida (Sunday).
