Volleyball Faces Missouri Wednesday in Final SEC Road Match
11/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
THE MATCHUP
Alabama (23-7, 11-5 SEC) will play its final SEC road match of the season on Wednesday, Nov. 26 when the Crimson Tide takes on the Missouri Tigers (16-16, 7-6 SEC) at 6:30 p.m. CT in Columbia, Mo.
THE TIDE ON THE AIR
Video - SEC Network + (WatchESPN app or WatchESPN.com)
Audio - Rolltide.com
SCOUTING ALABAMA
Alabama (23-7, 11-5 SEC) - With just two matches remaining in the regular season, Alabama will be looking to solidify its bid to the NCAA Tournament with strong performances against Missouri and Tennessee this week. A loss to Ole Miss on Sunday snapped a four-match winning streak, but the Crimson Tide have won seven of its last nine matches and are 4-2 in the month of November. Krystal Rivers earned 24 kills in the loss to Ole Miss, giving her an even 500 on the season. This ranks 11th in single-season school history and puts her within striking distance of a top-five season. Rivers' 500 kills is already a personal best, but Sierra Wilson is also closing in on a season best for assists, trailing her total from last season by 88. Freshman Kat Hutson is second on the team with 420 kills, ranking fourth among all players in the SEC and leading all freshman by nearly 100 kills. Up front, Leah Lawrence leads the team with 109 blocks while Natalie Murison leads the back-row defense with 350 digs.
LAST TIME OUT: LATE COMEBACK FALLS SHORT AT OLE MISS
Facing a 2-0 match deficit at intermission, Alabama put together two strong sets to force a fifth set Sunday against Ole Miss, but the Rebels ended the comeback with a 15-11 victory in the fifth set to defeat the Crimson Tide, 3-2. Alabama struggled offensively in the opening two sets, hitting a combined .157 as a team, before coming back with a strong third and fourth to force a deciding fifth set. Ole Miss took advantage of multiple Tide miscues in the fifth, namely four service errors, to take the momentum and squash an Alabama comeback. The Tide was led offensively by Krystal Rivers with 24 kills, while Kat Hutson was close behind with 18 and a season-high three service aces. Brittany Thomas earned 13 kills with 14 digs for her ninth double-double of the season along with a season-high five blocks. Sierra Wilson set 56 assists, putting her 61 away from moving into third all-time in career assists at Alabama.
ALABAMA CLOSING IN ON SINGLE-SEASON WIN RECORD
With 23 wins and two matches remaining in the regular season, Alabama has a chance to break the school's single-season record for wins. The record is currently 24, which was originally set in 1995 when the Tide went 24-10 (7-8 SEC). That record stood for nearly a decade without being matched until last year's Crimson Tide went 24-10, ultimately falling short of a new record after dropping the regular season finale and the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The combined two-year win total from this season and last season is already the most in any two-year span at Alabama since the program's reinstatement in 1989.
INDIVIDUALS IN THE SINGLE-SEASON RECORD BOOKS
While the team is approaching a single-season win record, multiple individual single-season bests have already fallen or are on the brink of being surpassed. Krystal Rivers has 500 kills and counting, which beats her redshirt freshman season total of 435. She is averaging 4.27 kills per set, which puts her in a strong position to finish with one of top five seasons in Alabama history. Bruna Evangelista's .363 hitting percentage is the third-best single-season mark in school history, trailing Rivers' .404 from last season and Crystal Hudson's .384 clip from 2006. Sierra Wilson has 1,362 assists, which ranks seventh all-time and is only 88 away from her personal best of 1,450 from last season that ranks third all-time. Kat Hutson has cracked the single-season top 20 at Alabama in kills and already owns the fifth-highest kill total among any freshman in Alabama history. Likewise, Leah Lawrence's 109 blocks rank 14th in single-sesaon history and is the third-highest freshman total in school history.
ALABAMA RECEIVING VOTES IN AVCA POLL, NO. 28 IN RPI
Despite a 1-1 weekend, Alabama is still receiving votes in the AVCA coaches' poll, receiving eight votes to place six spots outside the Top 25. The Crimson Tide moved up one spot in the NCAA RPI to No. 27 after two-straight weeks at No. 28. Alabama is the fourth SEC team on the list, trailing Florida (7), Kentucky (15) and Texas A&M (19).
2014 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
- Alabama set a Foster Auditorium attendance record for the second time this season on Nov. 21, as 2,169 fans packed in to watch Alabama defeat Auburn, 3-1. This beats the previous record of 1,749 set earlier this season on Sept. 28 against LSU. Alabama has set a new attendance record three times since Ed Allen became head coach in 2011.
- Junior setter Sierra Wilson surpassed 4,000 career assists during the four-set victory over Auburn on Nov. 21, becoming just the fourth athlete in Alabama history to do so.
- The sweep over Georgia on Sunday, Nov. 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 VS TENNESSEE - SATURDAY, NOV. 29 - 1:00
Alabama will conclude the 2014 regular season at home, welcoming Tennessee (8-22, 1-15 SEC) to Foster Auditorium on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. CT. Admission is free and Alabama will honor its two seniors, Caitlin Bernardin and Katherine White, prior to the match.
