Volleyball Travels to Northern Iowa Invitational
9/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The Alabama volleyball team (4-2) will compete in its third and final tournament of the regular season when it travels to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to play in the Northern Iowa Invitational along with Kansas State, Northern Iowa and No. 23 Notre Dame beginning Friday evening.
The Tide hosted their first two tournaments this season, going 2-1 in both and winning the opening tournament of the season, the Academy Sports Invitational. The Tide took second place this past weekend in the Hampton Inn Bama Bash, falling 3-0 to UW-Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon after defeating Mercer and Ball State on Friday.
Juniors Crystal Hudson and Bridget Fuentez lead the way for Alabama. Both earned all-tournament honors at the Academy Sports Invitational and the Hampton Inn Bama Bash. Hudson leads Alabama with an average of 4.10 kills per game and is hitting a robust .358 on the season. Fuentez is second on the squad in both kills, with a 3.90 average, and digs, with a 2.48 dpg mark. Fuentez also collected her first two double-doubles of the season in the Bama Bash matching a season high 19 kills and 12 digs against Mercer and recording 12 kills and 10 digs in the Tide's contest against Ball State.
Hudson and Amy Pauly lead the Tide defense. Pauly is averaging 3.24 digs per game and is a serving force for Alabama, recording 10 service aces so far this season. Hudson paces the Tide with a 1.05 block per game average.
The UNI Invitational should serve as good measure to see how the Tide stacks up against some of the top programs in the nation. Host school Northern Iowa has a storied volleyball tradition having made 14 postseason appearances. The Panthers also boast an astounding record in West Gym of 177-10 (.947) since 1990. Notre Dame is currently ranked 23rd in the AVCA poll and reached the Sweet Sixteen in last year's NCAA tournament. Kansas State received the most votes of any non-Top 25 school in the current AVCA poll and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2005.
The Tide opens the tournament Friday night by taking on Notre Dame. The Irish come into the UNI Invitational on a two-match losing streak, however those losses came at the hands of No. 13 Missouri and No. 6 Santa Clara. Christina Kaelin powers the offense for the Fighting Irish with a 4.42 kpg average. Adrianna Stasiuk, an honorable mention All-America a season ago ranks second on the Notre Dame squad with a 3.21 kpg and 2.84 dpg. Danielle Herndon and Justine Stremick pace the Irish defensively. Herndon leads the way with a 5.47 dpg average while Stremick handles the net, averaging 1.63 blocks per game a mark which ranks 19th best in the nation. The meeting on Friday night will be the first ever on the volleyball court for Alabama and Notre Dame.
Host school Northern Iowa is opening their home schedule this weekend having competed at the Georgia Tech tournament last weekend, winning three matches before dropping their finale to the Yellow Jackets in five games. In the tournament, the Panthers defeated SEC opponents Mississippi State and Georgia, sweeping both sets of Bulldogs 3-0.
UNI's home court, West Gym, is far and away one of the toughest environments in the country to play in. Northern Iowa has a .947 winning percentage in the arena since 1990 and posted the second longest home court winning streak in NCAA history, winning 74 straight matches in the gym from 1997-2004. Laura Rowen leads the way for the Panthers offense with a 3.97 kpg mark. Rowen also boasts the second best dpg average on the squad, scooping 2.97 balls per game. Led by Danielle Brazda (1.57 bpg) and Trista Humpal (1.37 bpg), the Panthers boast on of the top net defenses in the nation averaging 3.05 blocks per game as a team. The meeting will be the second for the Tide and the Panthers. Alabama defeated UNI 3-0 in 2005 at the UWM Invitational to give Judy Green her 550th coaching victory.
Alabama closes out the tournament on Saturday evening with a match against Kansas State. The Wildcats come into the UNI Invite riding a five-match winning streak with their most recent victory coming Wednesday night against Drake. K-State ranks 10th in the nation, averaging 16.95 kpg as a team and has the 21st best hitting percentage in the country with a .287 team mark. Triggering the Wildcat offense is Stacey Spiegelberg who ranks eighth in the NCAA in assists per game with a 13.8 apg average. Sandy Werner leads a balanced Wildcat attack with 4.13 kills per game while five other players average better than two kills per game. KSU also has one of the top net defenses in the nation with Megan Kroeker (1.47 bpg), Tiffany Johnson (1.24 bpg) and Spiegelberg (1.04) all averaging better than a block per game. Angie Lastra adds 5.17 dpg for K-State. The meeting will be the third between Alabama and the Wildcats with the series currently split 1-1. KSU won the most recent meeting 3-0 in 2003.
The tournament serves as the final tournament before Southeastern Conference play begins for Alabama with Mississippi State and Ole Miss traveling to the CAVE next weekend. Live stats for the tournament can be seen at www.rolltide.com.
