Volleyball Wraps Up Weekend on Sunday at Ole Miss
11/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
THE MATCHUP
Alabama (23-6, 11-4 SEC) wraps up its weekend with a road match against the Ole Miss Rebels (20-9, 6-9 SEC) on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 1:30 p.m. CT.
THE TIDE ON THE AIR
Video - SEC Network + (WatchESPN app or WatchESPN.com)
Audio - Rolltide.com
SCOUTING ALABAMA
Alabama (22-6, 10-4 SEC) - With four matches remaining in the regular season, Alabama is currently fourth in the SEC but is within arm's reach of second-place Kentucky at 12-3 or third-place LSU at 11-4. As a team, Alabama ranks third in the SEC in hitting percentage (.260), second in opponent hitting percentage (.195) and aces (161, 1.49/set) and fourth in assists (1358, 12.57/set) and kills (1488, 13.78/set). Individually, Sierra Wilson leads the SEC and ranks sixth nationally with 1,254 assists (11.61/set) as the only setter in the SEC with over 1,200 assists this season. Alabama is the only team in the SEC with two hitters that rank in the top five in kills, as Krystal Rivers is second (454, 4.20/set) and Kat Hutson is fourth (388, 3.77/set) in the conference.
LAST TIME OUT: VOLLEYBALL DEFEATS AUBURN, 3-1, FRIDAY IN TUSCALOOSA
With the match split at 1-1 at intermission, Alabama came out with two strong sets to beat Auburn, 3-1, Friday at Foster Auditorium to improve to 23-6, 11-4 in SEC play. The Tide had three players with double-digit kills, led by Krystal Rivers with 22 kills on 41 total swings for a .341 hitting percentage. Sierra Wilson led the Tide in assists with 52, which helped her surpass 4,000 career assists. She is the just the fourth player in school history to reach this milestone. Brittany Thomas had an excellent all-around performance, knocking in 17 kills and 12 digs for her eighth double-double of the season while hitting a team-leading .429. As a team, Alabama hit .369, a high in SEC play, which matches the Tide's same exact hitting percentage from its Oct. 22 victory on the road against Auburn.
ALABAMA SETS NEW FOSTER AUDITORIUM ATTENDANCE RECORD
Alabama's play on the court was helped by a Foster Auditorium record crowd, as 2,169 fans packed into the arena on Homecoming weekend. This beats the previous record of 1,749 set earlier this season against LSU by over 400 and is the first 2,000-plus crowd in Foster Auditorium history. This is already the third time under Head Coach Ed Allen that Alabama has broken the attendance record. Prior to this season's LSU match, the record was 1,670 which was set against LSU on Sept. 14, 2012. That easily beat the previous best record of 1,231, set against Auburn on Nov. 9, 2010. Despite setting the record three times since 2010, the previous record of 1,227 stood for nearly as long, set originally on Nov. 12, 2003 against Auburn. Since 2011, Alabama has had nine matches with larger crowds than the 2003 record mark.
WILSON JOINS 4,000 CLUB
Junior setter Sierra Wilson surpassed 4,000 career assists during the four-set Auburn victory, becoming just the fourth athlete in Alabama history to do so. She is just 117 assists away from moving into the top three, as she owns 4,049 career assists, which trails Allison Lange (1997-00) in third place at 4,166. Averaging 11.66 assists-per-set so far this season, Wilson has a chance to surpass her previous single-season best of 1,450 from last season, which ranks second in school history, and even the school record of 1,484 set by Kenna Milner in 2002.
VOLLEYBALL INKS THREE DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
Alabama has signed three national letters of intent during the early signing period, as Tabitha Brown, Quincey Gary and Shannon Mikesky are set to join Alabama Volleyball during the 2015 season.
Tabitha Brown hails from Spring, Texas, where she starred at Klein Collins High School as a four-year starting outside hitter. She was listed in this year's PrepVolleyball.com All-American Top 50 Volleyball Prospects and PrepVolleyball Senior Aces Top 100. She was a 2014 Under Armour Honorable Mention All-American and was named District MVP for the second-straight season. Quincey Gary, native of Alexandria, Ind., played club volleyball with the prestigious Munciana Volleyball Club under Mike Lingenfelter and was also a three-time AAU All-American. At Pendleton Heights High School, Gary was All-County and All-Conference during all four years and was a two-time All-State honoree. Shannon Mikesky is a 6'0" setter out of Schulenburg, Texas, who helped lead Schulenburg High School to a state runner-up finish in 2012 and 2013, earning All-State setter and All-Tournament Team awards in each of those seasons. In 2013, Schulenburg competed in the Tour of Texas Qualifier and won the Cross Court Classic. She played club volleyball with TEXSTAR and competed in the AAU Volleyball Tournament in 2013.
ALABAMA RECEIVING VOTES IN AVCA POLL, NO. 28 IN RPI
Two home sweeps last weekend helped Alabama move up one spot in the AVCA coaches' poll, receiving 16 votes to place eight spots outside the Top 25. Alabama is one of three SEC teams to appear in the coaches poll, as LSU dropped out this week after a loss to Mississippi State last weekend. This is the sixth poll this season in which Alabama has received votes. The Crimson Tide retained its No. 28 ranking in the NCAA RPI this week. Alabama is the fourth SEC team on the list, trailing Florida (7), Kentucky (13) and Texas A&M (19).
2014 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
- The sweep over Georgia on Sunday, No. 16 marked the 10th home victory of the season for Alabama, giving the Tide three-straight seasons with at least 10 wins at home.
- Alabama's 3-2 win over South Carolina on Nov. 9 was the team's 20th of the season, giving the Tide back-to-back 20 win seasons for the first time since 2004-05 and just the fourth time in program history.
- Alabama defeated No. 23 Texas A&M, 3-2, on Oct. 31, earning the team's first Top 25 win since 2007 and the team's first Top 25 win over an SEC opponent since 2006.
- Kat Hutson was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 3 for her performance against Texas A&M. It was her first career weekly conference honor and the fourth overall for Alabama this season.
- Krystal Rivers was named Preseason All-SEC, earned back-to-back SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 22 and Sept. 29 and then a third time on Oct. 27.
- Alabama received Top 25 votes for the first time in school history on Sept. 29, appearing five spots outside the Top 25 in the Week Five AVCA poll.
- The Tide won three tournament titles during the preseason, winning the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic on opening weekend in St. Louis, the ISTAP Collegiate Cup 2 in Montgomery, Ala., and the Crimson-White Tournament in Tuscaloosa.
- Alabama returns nine players from last year's squad while welcoming eight newcomers.
NEXT TIME OUT: ALABAMA AT MISSOURI
Alabama has a quick turnaround with a midweek matchup on the road against the Missouri Tigers (16-15, 7-9 SEC) on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 6:30 p.m. CT.
