Volleyball Heads West for Hornet Invitational
9/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The volleyball team (2-5) heads to the Golden State today to take part in the Hornet Invitational Sept. 11-12 in Sacramento, Calif., where it will take on Fresno State (5-1), San Francisco (2-5) and, host institution, Sacramento State (2-4). This is the Crimson Tide's final tournament before opening Southeastern Conference play Sept. 18.
"The obvious thing for our team this week is to perform better than we did last week," said head coach Judy Green. "We are going to play three good volleyball teams this weekend, and we need to find a way to be consistent in our play throughout the match."
Last time out, Alabama dropped both matches in the second day of action at the Bama Bash falling 3-1 to both Jacksonville State and McNeese State. Alabama wrapped up the two-day event with a 1-2 record after downing SMU on the tournament's first day. Junior Alyssa Meuth, who was named to the Bama Bash All-Tournament team, led Alabama with 42 kills throughout the two-day event including a career-high 18 in the loss to JSU. Sophomore Ashley Frazier added 37 kills for the Tide over the course of the weekend.
Alabama is 1-6 all-time versus teams from California with its lone win coming against Cal State Fullerton. The Tide faced Sacramento State once previously in 2007 resulting in a 3-1 win for the Hornets. Both Fresno State and Sacramento State are new opponents for Alabama.
The Tide will open play at the tournament Friday at 7:00 p.m. (CST) when it takes on Fresno State. The Bulldogs ride into Sacramento after sweeping three matches at the Wyoming Invitational, winning each match 3-1. Fresno State is led by senior Lacey Gera with 2.77 kills per set, 1.55 digs per set and eight service aces.
Alabama's second match of the tournament is slated for Saturday at Noon (CST) when it faces off with San Francisco. The Dons collected its two wins of the season by defeating Eastern Washington and Cal State Northridge. San Francisco is led by junior Sarah Mandala with 117 kills and senior Haley Carroll with 125 digs.
In its final match, the Tide will take on host institution Sacramento State Saturday at 9:30 p.m. (CST). The Hornets won their first two matches of the season against Siena and New Hampshire. Sacramento State is led by senior Desiree Hoyum and freshman Janelle Currey. Both players are tied for the team lead in kills per set with 3.68 and Hoyum also leads the team with 3.86 digs per set.
Live stats will be available for all matches by clicking here. In addition, Saturday's match with Sacramento State can be viewed online via a live webcast by clicking here.
"We've had a good week of practice," added Green. "It's now time to get out there on the court and put it to the test."
