Alabama Volleyball to Host Tennessee and South Carolina this Weekend

Nov. 5, 2015

THIS WEEK

Alabama (11-13, 5-5 SEC) vs. Tennessee (20-7, 6-6 SEC)

Friday, Nov. 6 - 7 p.m. CT
Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Foster Auditorium

Alabama (11-13, 5-5 SEC) vs. South Carolina (10-14, 3-8 SEC)

Sunday, Nov. 8 - 2 p.m. CT
Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Foster Auditorium
*SEC Network*

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama (11-13, 5-5 SEC) - The Crimson Tide split two road matches last week, falling to Missouri before bouncing back with a win over Arkansas. Alabama remains at .500 in conference play and is sixth in the latest SEC standings. Redshirt junior Krystal Rivers leads the team with 283 kills followed closely by sophomore Kat Hutson with 276, while both are averaging 3.54 kills per set to rank in the top five in the SEC. Sierra Wilson's 1,137 assists (11.6/set) leads the SEC and puts her just 169 shy of the career record at Alabama. Sophomore Leah Lawrence leads the team with 23 service aces, scoring at least one in each of the last six matches, while adding 73 blocks on defense. Sophomore Natalie Murison has anchored the passing game as the libero all season, digging 359 balls (3.66/set) out of the back row.

ALL-TIME VS. THE OPPONENTS

15-33 vs Tennessee

Current Streak: Tennessee 1
First Meeting: Oct. 21, 1977 (Knoxville, Tenn.) - Alabama 2, Tennessee 0
Last Meeting: Oct 2, 2015 (Knoxville, Tenn.) - Alabama 1, Tennessee 3

26-18 vs South Carolina

Current Streak: Alabama 3
First Meeting: Sept. 22, 1979 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) - Alabama 2, South Carolina 0
Last Meeting: Nov. 9, 2014 (Columbia, S.C.) - Alabama 3, South Carolina 2

LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA RALLIES TO DEFEAT ARKANSAS IN FIVE

Trailing the match 2-1, Alabama rallied with wins in the fourth and fifth sets to earn the comeback victory over Arkansas on the road Sunday afternoon. The Razorbacks won the opening set, 25-22, before the Tide edged them out in set two, 25-23, to even the match at 1-1 heading into intermission. The third set would be the most decisive of the match, as Arkansas pulled away in the second half of the set to win, 25-18, and take a 2-1 match advantage into the fourth. The first half of the fourth was a back-and-forth affair but Alabama started to move ahead, leading 15-13 at the media timeout and later leading 20-16 after Arkansas burned both of its timeouts. The Tide would hold on to win the fourth, 25-20, and force a deciding fifth set. The fifth was neck-and-neck to the very end, as Alabama took a timeout trailing 13-12. A kill by Bruna Evangelista tied it at 13-13 and then back-to-back kills by Brittany Thomas ended it as Alabama won, 15-13, to secure the five-set victory.

STANDOUTS AT ARKANSAS

Krystal Rivers led the team with 22 kills and 21 digs, posting her fourth double-double of the season and her third in the last five matches. She is the first Tide player to total over 20 kills and 20 digs in the same match since doing so almost exactly one year prior on Oct. 31, 2014 vs. Texas A&M.
Kat Hutson finished the match with 22 kills, marking her sixth match this season with at least 20 kills. Her .306 hitting percentage is her third-highest total in conference play this season.
Alabama totaled seven service aces in the match, with Brittany Thomas and Leah Lawrence leading the team with two each.
The 10.0 team blocks is the Tide's highest total in conference play this season. Leah Lawrence accounted for half of the team's total with five, her second-highest total in SEC play.

WILSON CLOSING IN ON CAREER ASSISTS RECORD

With 1,137 assists so far this season, senior setter Sierra Wilson now has 5,357 career assists, which is just 169 shy of Brigitte Slack's (2004-07) career record of 5,578. Wilson entered the season in third place with 4,272, trailing Jennifer Miller (1989-92) in second place by just 61. The Anaheim, Calif., native finished the opening match of the 2015 season against Long Beach State with 38 assists and then surpassed Miller's mark the next day against Cal State Fullerton with 69 assists in the lengthy five-set victory. Against Tennessee on Oct. 2, Wilson broke the 5,000-assists mark, becoming just the second player in program history to do so.

ACES HIGH

Alabama's play from the service line has been a strong source of points over the previous three matches, with Alabama earning eight aces against Georgia, six against Missouri and seven against Arkansas, an average of 1.62 aces per set.
In the Tide's first seven SEC matches, the team totaled just 27 aces over 28 sets, an average of .96 per set. The 21 over the last three matches now accounts for 44 percent of the team's total in conference play.
Seven different Tide players have earned at least one ace over the last three matches. Leah Lawrence leads the group with seven, earning at least one in each of the last six matches. Krystal Rivers is close behind with six in the last three matches. Sierra Wilson, Natalie Murison and Brittany Thomas each have two while Kat Hutson and Kryssi Daniels have one each.

WILSON NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT

Alabama senior setter Sierra Wilson earned Academic All-District honors for the third straight season, announced Thursday by the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Wilson has been named to the District 4 academic list in each of the past three seasons, including First Team Academic All-America honors last year. She is now the only player in program history to earn Academic All-District honors in three seasons. Wilson is one of four SEC players on the list, joining Kentucky's Morgan Bergren, Auburn's Stephanie Campbell and Ole Miss' Aubrey Edie.

THE TIDE ON THE AIR

Sunday's match vs. South Carolina will be featured on the SEC Network, marking the sixth appearance this season for Alabama. The Tide will be featured two more times this year (Nov. 15 vs. Auburn, Nov. 25 vs. Ole Miss).
Since the debut of the SEC Network last season, Alabama has been featured in 11 matches so far and has won 10 of them.

Alabama on the SEC Network

Sept. 24, 2014 at Georgia: W, 3-1
Oct. 12, 2014 vs. South Carolina: W, 3-1
Oct. 26, 2014 vs. Arkansas: W, 3-1
Nov. 9, 2014 at South Carolina: W, 3-2
Nov. 16, 2014 vs. Georgia: W, 3-0
Sept. 23, 2015 vs. Mississippi State: W, 3-1
Oct. 11, 2015 vs. Missouri: W, 3-2
Oct. 18, 2015 at LSU: W, 3-2
Oct. 25, 2015 vs. Georgia: W, 3-0
Oct. 28, 2015 at Missouri: L, 3-2
Nov. 1, 2015 at Arkansas: W, 3-2

NEXT TIME OUT: AT FLORIDA / VS. AUBURN *SEC NETWORK*

Next up, Alabama will have a split road and home weekend, first heading to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators (17-4, 9-3 SEC) on Friday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. CT. The Tide then turns around and heads home for a home match on Sunday, Nov. 15 against Auburn (12-10, 4-6 SEC) at 3 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.

University of Alabama Athletics