Volleyball Travels to Dallas for Doubletree Invitational
9/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 1, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama volleyball team closes the week with three games in the Doubletree Invitational, hosted by SMU, Sept. 2-3, from Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas. Alabama will play Lamar on Friday, Sept. 2 at 4:30 p.m. CT, before battling TCU (10 a.m. CT) and SMU (7 p.m. CT) on Saturday, Sept. 3.
DOUBLETREE INVITATIONAL COVERAGE
For the Doubletree Invitational, SMU will provide selected online coverage for tournament matches. Check www.smumustangs.com for livestats and audio/video broadcasts on the school's tournament central webpage.
FITTERER GARNERS FIRST ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Kayla Fitterer, a 2011 Preseason All-SEC selection, was named the Hampton Inn Bama Bash Most Valuable Player. Fitterer posted double-doubles in all three matches, including match-highs in kills in all three UA contests. The selection to the all-tournament team was her first as a member of the Crimson Tide. Fitterer finished the weekend with 58 total kills to average 4.83 kills per set, while hitting .368 in three matches. In addition to her team-leading kills, she was second on the team with 43 digs to average 3.58 digs per set. She averaged 21.5 points per match over the weekend.
SCOUTING THE LAMAR CARDINALS
The Lamar Lady Cardinals make the trip to Dallas with a 1-2 record. Lamar hosted a tournament to open the season, falling to North Texas (3-1) in its opening match, before beating Texas Southern (3-0) and losing to Houston Baptist (3-0), respectively. Sierra Whittaker leads the team with 33 kills (3.30 kps) and setter Mandi Martin had a team-high 90 assists (9.00 aps). Megan McStravick averages 3.25 kills and 2.12 digs per set.
Friday's match between Alabama and Lamar will mark the third meeting all-time between the two schools. The last match-up came on Aug. 31, 1996 when the Tide defeated the Cardinals, 3-0, in Tuscaloosa. Lamar defeated Alabama, 2-0, in the first meeting on Dec. 9, 1976, in the AIAW National Championships.
SCOUTING THE TCU HORNED FROGS
The TCU Horned Frogs enter the Doubletree Invitational with a 3-0 record following wins over Texas Tech (3-1), Grambling State (3-0) and UConn (3-0) in the TCU Invitational to open the season. Picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West Conference, TCU is led by Kristen Hester's 33 kills (3.67 kps) and .577 hitting percentage. Jordan Raines is second on the team with 25 kills (2.78 kps) and Megan Munce leads the squad with 90 assists (9.00 aps). Sarah Joeckel has a team-high 46 digs to average 4.60 digs per set.
When Alabama and TCU square off on Saturday it will mark the first ever meeting in volleyball between the two schools.
SCOUTING THE SMU MUSTANGS
SMU opened the 2011 season at the Nike Invitational in Norman, Okla., with a 1-2 record. The Mustangs opened the year with losses to No. 16 Oklahoma (3-0) and Missouri State (3-0), before defeating Oral Roberts to wrap-up the tournament. Jessica Oliver and Dana Powell lead the team with 32 kills each. Powell averages 2.44 digs per set (third on the team). Kelli Becerra has 97 of the team's 103 assists and is second on the team with 3.11 digs per set, behind Sidney Stewart's team leading 6.11 dps.
Saturday's tournament finale between UA and SMU will mark the second meeting between the two schools. Alabama won the only other match in the all-time series, 3-0, when the team played on Sept. 4, 2009, in the Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa.
THE LAST TIME OUT
In its most recent match, Alabama suffered a 3-2 loss at Samford, dropping the final set 17-15, on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs took the opening set, before Alabama took a 2-1 lead, after winning sets two and three. Samford took the fourth set 25-18 to even the match at 2-2. Alabama led 14-13 in the fifth set, but a late rally by the Bulldogs capped off the first win in the series for Samford. UA was paced by Kayla Fitterer's fourth double-double of the season with a season-high 30 kills and 13 digs, while hitting .343. Andrea McQuaid notched a double-double with a team-high 32 assists and 14 digs. Brianna Vande Griend had 14 kills and a .323 hitting percentage and Shelbi Goode hit a team-high .385 with seven kills on 13 attempts.
COACH ALLEN CLOSES IN ON 500 VICTORIES
In his 20th season as a college head coach, first-year UA coach Ed Allen has a 3-1 record in 2011 to bring his career record to 497-184 (.730), just three wins shy of 500 victories. In five seasons at Division I Tulsa (2006-10) he collected 133 wins, in three seasons at Division II Presbyterian College (2003-05) he had 94 wins and in 11 seasons at Division III Anderson University (1992-2002) he had 267 victories. Allen entered the season ranked 28th among active Division I coaches in career victories.
FITTERER NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-SEC TEAM
Junior outside hitter Kayla Fitterer was named to the 2011 Volleyball Preseason All-SEC Team. Fitterer was selected as one of the top 10 players in the SEC entering the 2011 season. She is coming off a stellar sophomore campaign where she led the SEC in kills per set with 3.92 in conference play and earned All-SEC Second Team honors. This season, Fitterer is first in the SEC with 5.18 kills per set and 10th in the SEC with a .359 hitting percentage.
RILEY IN BAMA'S TOP-10 FOR CAREER ASSISTS
Senior setter Stephanie Riley added a team-high 78 assist in three matches of the Hampton Inn Bama Bash and added 25 assists against Samford to bring her career total of assists at Alabama to 1,393. In the process, she passed Erin Price (2000-03) to move into ninth all-time in assists at the Capstone. Riley will need 61 assists to pass Kayla Schmidt (2009-10) for eighth all-time at Alabama.
NEXT WEEK FOR THE TIDE
The Crimson Tide will play its third tournament in three weeks when it travels to Toledo, Ohio for three matches in the Rocket Classic, hosted by the University of Toledo, on Sept. 9-10. Alabama opens the tournament against Toledo on Friday night with first serve at 6 p.m. CT. UA will play a pair of matches on Saturday, Sept. 10, opening with No. 22 Ohio State at 11 a.m. CT, before playing Penn at 4 p.m. CT. All three matches will be played at Savage Arena.
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