Friday, November 18
Columbia, S.C.
6:00 p.m.
Alabama
at
South Carolina
Alabama Volleyball Faces Road Test at South Carolina Friday
11/17/2016 9:00:00 AM | Volleyball
THIS WEEKEND
Friday, Nov. 18 at South Carolina (18-8, 6-8 SEC)
6 p.m. CT - Columbia, S.C. - Carolina Volleyball Center
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Live Video: N/A
Live Stats: rolltide.com
Twitter: @AlabamaVBall
SCOUTING ALABAMA (17-11, 6-9 SEC)
- Alabama split its two matches last week, defeating Auburn in five sets on Wednesday before falling in three sets on the road against sixth-ranked Florida on Sunday.
- Krystal Rivers' career kills total now sits at 2,064 which is 26 shy of Erin Heffner's (2001-04) career record of 2,090. Rivers is averaging 5.75 kills per set this season, which is the second-highest rate of any player in program history. Her career average is at 4.38 kills per set, which is also third in Tide history.
- Rivers leads the SEC and is second nationally in kills (621) and points (705.0) and is ranked third nationally and top in the SEC in kills per set (5.75/set) and points per set (6.53/set). She also ranks second in the SEC in total service aces (40) and fifth in aces per set (0.37/set).
- Two of Alabama's three remaining regular season matches will come on the road, traveling to South Carolina (Nov. 18) and LSU (Nov. 26). The Tide's lone remaining home match is on Wednesday, Nov. 23 vs. Ole Miss. Alabama is 11-4 at home this season and is 6-7 away from Foster Auditorium.
THE OPPONENT
South Carolina Gamecocks
- Southeastern Conference
- 2016 Record: 18-8 (6-8 SEC)
- Head Coach: Scott Swanson (Sixth Season)
- Record at South Carolina: 92-89 (.508)
South Carolina Stat Leaders
- Attack Percentage - Mikayla Shields - .312
- Kills - Mikayla Shields - 283
- Assists - Aubrey Ezell - 609
- Digs - Megan Kirkland - 302
- Blocks - Alicia Starr - 75
- Aces - Aubrey Ezell- 37
ALL-TIME VS. THE OPPONENT
28-18 vs. South Carolina
- Current Streak: Alabama 5
- First Meeting: Sept. 22, 1979 (Alabama Invitational - Tuscaloosa, Ala.) -Alabama 2, South Carolina 0
- Last Meeting: Nov. 8, 2015 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) - Alabama 3, South Carolina 1
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMAÂ DEFEATS AUBURN, FALLS AT FLORIDA
- Alabama 3, Auburn 2 Alabama volleyball overcame a 2-1 match deficit over in-state rival Auburn Wednesday night in Foster Auditorium, persevering for a five-set victory. Alabama won the opening set, 25-21, before Auburn came back to win set two, 19-25, and set three, 18-25, and take a 2-1 match lead. The Tide forced a deciding fifth set with a relatively narrow 25-20 decision in the fourth before the Alabama offense came out firing in the fifth with a decisive 15-8 victory to complete the comeback. Krystal Rivers led the way with 28 kills, putting her 33 kills shy of the Alabama career record. Her 30.5 points in the match allowed her to move into first place on the Tide career record book, owning 2,396.0 which passes previous record-holder Erin Heffner (2001-04) at 2,391.5. Alabama saw strong offense from its middles, with Hayley McSparin earning eight kills with a .429 hitting percentage while Leah Lawrence finished with 10 kills and a .400 clip. In the back row, Natalie Murison dug a career-high 28 balls, one of three Tide players in double figures.
- Florida 3, Alabama 0 Alabama volleyball fell in three sets in its Sunday road match against Florida by set scores of 18-25, 16-25 and 12-25. Alabama was held to just 21 kills and a .000 hitting percentage, both season lows in SEC play for the Crimson Tide, while Florida hit .368 as a team with 42 kills. Krystal Rivers finished with seven kills, putting her just 26 away from the school record, along with a season-high four aces from the service line.
AUBURN/FLORIDA MATCH SUPERLATIVES
- With a match-leading 30.5 points on Wednesday, Krystal Rivers surpassed Erin Heffner (2001-04) for the Alabama career points record, currently at 2,396.0. Heffner's previous record mark of 2,391.5 was the only total above 2,000 in program history prior to Rivers.
- Natalie Murison's 28 digs against Auburn is a career-high for the junior and the most for any Crimson Tide player since Yukie Fatami totaled 29 against Northeastern on Aug. 24, 2012. It is the most digs against a conference opponent since Kelsey Anderson earned 28 against Ole Miss on Oct. 24, 2010.
- Krystal Rivers tied a season high with four service aces on Sunday at Florida, marking the third time this season she has earned four aces in a match. Her season total is now at 40, putting her eight shy of her previous career best of 48 set in 2014. Her 48 aces as a sophomore ranks 10th on Alabama's single-season record books. This season, Rivers is averaging 0.37 aces per set and has scored at least one ace in 21 of the 28 matches played.
RIVERS IN THE RECORD BOOKS
As Krystal Rivers nears the end of her Crimson Tide career, the fifth-year senior is poised to finish among the top 10 in numerous career categories at Alabama. With 2,064 kills, she is 26 away from tying Erin Heffner's (2001-04) school record of 2,090. In the Nov. 9 win over Auburn, Rivers surpassed Heffner's career points record and currently sits in first place with 2,407.5 points.
Krystal Rivers Career Rankings at Alabama (Top 10)
- Points - 1st (2,407.5)
- Kills - 2nd (2,064) *26 shy of record*
- Attacks - 2nd (4,542) *243 shy of record*
- Kills Per Set - 3rd (4.38)
- Points Per Set - 3rd (5.11)
- Total Blocks - 5th (360)
- Solo Blocks - 5th (71)
- Block Assists - 5th (289)
- Sets Played - 5th (471)
- Attack Percent - 6th (.313)
- Matches Played - T7th (124)
- Aces - 8th (128)
MOVING UP THE CAREER RANKINGS
In addition to Rivers, multiple other Tide teammates are moving up the career rankings
- Junior Natalie Murison is currently fourth all-time at Alabama with 1,227 digs over 372 sets played. She is just 37 shy of moving to third place and 497 shy of Amy Pauly's (2005-08) school record of 1,724. Murison is also ranked seventh all-time with 3.30 digs per set.
- Junior Leah Lawrence is ranked eighth all-time in block assists (258), 10th in total blocks (308) and 13th in solo blocks (50). Lawrence and Krystal Rivers are the only players in program history since 2007 with over 300 career blocks.
- Brittany Thomas jumped into the top 10 in career kills following Sunday's match against Florida, now owning 1,291. She is also ranked sixth all-time in digs (1,159), making her the sixth player in program history to be ranked in the top 10 in both kills and digs, the first since Bridget Fuentez (2004-07).
NEXT TIME OUT: VS. OLE MISS / AT LSU
Wednesday, Nov. 23 vs. Ole Miss (15-12, 4-10 SEC)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Foster Auditorium
7 p.m. CT
Saturday, Nov. 26 at LSU (9-16, 4-10 SEC)
Baton Rouge, La. - Pete Maravich Assembly Center
1 p.m. CT
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
RS
/ Volleyball
OH
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