Alabama
Texas A&M
Alabama Volleyball Hosts No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 6 Florida to Open SEC Play
9/22/2016 10:08:00 AM | Volleyball
THIS WEEK
Friday, Sept. 23 vs. No. 19 Texas A&M (6-5) - 6 p.m. CT
Sunday, Sept. 25 vs. No. 6 Florida (10-1) - Noon CT
Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Foster Auditorium
SEC Network
FOLLOW THE TIDE
Live Video: SEC Network
Live Stats: rolltide.com
Twitter: @AlabamaVBall
SCOUTING ALABAMA (11-2)
- Alabama improved its record to 11-2 after a 3-0 weekend at the Hampton Inn Crimson-White Tournament that included wins over East Tennessee State, Presbyterian and Georgia Southern.
- For their efforts over the weekend, Brittany Thomas and Quincey Gary were named to the Crimson-White All-Tournament team while Krystal Rivers was named the Tournament MVP. This is Rivers' second tournament MVP award of the season after winning the same honor at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash the week prior.
- Senior Krystal Rivers was named SEC Player of the Week for the third-straight week, giving her a school-record six weekly conference awards over her career. Rivers led the team with 54 kills over nine sets, averaging 6.00 kills per set. With the 54 kills, she also improved her career total to 1,710 which is 380 shy of Erin Heffner's (2001-04) career record of 2,090.
- Alabama is leading the SEC with 832 team kills, which also ranks 13th nationally. Individually, Krystal Rivers also leads the SEC with 267 kills, 5.45 kills per set and 305 points, ranking fifth, second and fifth nationally in each category, respectively.
- Alabama has finished with double-digit conference wins in each of the last three seasons, including an 11-7 mark last year. The three-year streak is the longest in program history.
- This weekend concludes what will be an eight-match home stand for the Crimson Tide. The eight-match home stand is the longest for Alabama since 1999. Alabama has won all six matches of the home stand so far.
- Saturday's win over Presbyterian marked the 600th career win for head coach Ed Allen, currently in his 25th year overall as a head coach which includes previous coaching stints at Tulsa (2006-10), Presbyterian College (2003-05) and Anderson University (1992-2002). He now owns a 601-252 (.705) overall record with 23 winning seasons in 24 years.
THE OPPONENTS
No. 19 Texas A&M Aggies (6-5)
Southeastern Conference
Head Coach: Laurie Corbelli (24th Season)
Record at Texas A&M: 488-228 (.682)
2016 Stat Leaders:
- Attack Pct. - Kaitlyn Blake - .373
- Kills - Kiara McGee - 118
- Assists - Stephanie Aiple - 396
- Blocks - Kaitlyn Blake - 65
- Aces - Hollann Hans - 7
- Digs - Amy Nettles – 118
No. 6 Florida Gators (10-1)
Southeastern Conference
Head Coach: Mary Wise (26th Season)
Record at Florida: 767-95 (.890)
2016 Stat Leaders:
- Attack Pct. - Rhamat Alhassan - .415
- Kills - Carli Snyder - 143
- Assists - Allie Monserez - 400
- Blocks - Rhamat Alhassan - 41
- Aces - Allie Gregory - 9
- Digs - Caroline Knop - 125
ALABAMA ALL-TIME VS. THE OPPONENTS
2-7 vs. Texas A&M
- Current Streak: Texas A&M 1
- First Meeting: Sept. 24, 1993 (SW Texas State Tournament - San Marcos, Texas) - Alabama 1, Texas A&M 3
- Last Meeting: Oct. 16, 2015 (College Station, Texas) - Alabama 0, Texas A&M 3
- Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: Oct. 31, 2014 – Alabama 3, Texas A&M 2
5-41 vs Florida
- Current Streak: Florida 23
- First Meeting: Oct. 22, 1976 (Miami Dade Tournament - Miami, Fla.) - Alabama 2, Florida
- Last Meeting: Nov. 13, 2015 (Gainesville, Fla.) - Alabama, 0, Florida 3
- Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: Alabama 0, Florida 3
LAST TIME OUT: HAMPTON INN CRIMSON-WHITE TOURNAMENT
- Alabama 3, ETSU 1: After dropping the second set to head into intermission tied at 1-1, Alabama volleyball made the necessary adjustments to come out of the locker room and post two strong sets against East Tennessee State for the 3-1 win, posting set scores of 25-21, 21-25, 25-17 and 25-18. Alabama again leaned heavily on senior Krystal Rivers on the offensive end, as she posted 27 kills and a .379 hitting percentage along with four blocks. Leah Lawrence led the defensive effort at the net with five blocks, one solo and four assisted, while three players posted double-digit digs led by Brittany Thomas with a season-high 15. East Tennessee State hit just .147 in the match, including a .068 clip in the deciding fourth set.
- Alabama 3, Presbyterian 2: Alabama found itself in a battle to open Saturday action at the Crimson-White Tournament, winning the first two sets against Presbyterian before dropping the next two and winning a narrow fifth set to escape the late threat by the Blue Hose. The win marked head coach Ed Allen's 600th career win, 105 of which have come during his tenure at Alabama. Thomas posted her first double-double of the season, leading the team with a season-high 17 kills and career-high 21 digs. Mahalia Swink, making her second start of the season, finished with 12 kills while Rivers and Leah Lawrence tied with 10 each. Eight service errors hurt the Tide's scoring efforts though the team did see service aces from six different players throughout the match.
- Alabama 3, Georgia Southern 0: Alabama needed just three sets to dispatch Georgia Southern in the weekend finale, winning by set scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-21. The Tide hit .294 as a team in the sweep, led by a season-best .571 from Lawrence while Rivers led the team with 17 kills and just four errors on 42 swings for a .310 hitting percentage. Thomas finished two kills shy of her second double-double of the day, earning eight kills and 13 digs, leading the team in the latter category.
KRYSTAL RIVERS EARNS THIRD-STRAIGHT WEEKLY SEC AWARD
Another impressive weekend allowed Alabama senior Krystal Rivers to earn an unprecedented third-straight SEC Offensive Player of the Week accolade, the league announced Monday. The honor is her third of the season and the sixth of her career, giving Rivers the most weekly conference honors of any player in program history. She led the team with 54 kills over nine sets of play last weekend, an average of 6.00 kills per set, and posted seven aces from the service line. For her efforts in leading the team to a 3-0 weekend, she was named the Crimson-White Tournament MVP. Her 54 kills also moved her to second all-time at Alabama in career kills with 1,710, placing her 380 shy of Erin Heffner's (2001-04) career record of 2,090.
THE TIDE SHINES ON THE SEC NETWORK
This weekend's matches mark Alabama's season debut on the SEC Network. Since the debut of the SEC Network in 2014, Alabama has been featured in 14 matches and has won 12 of them, including an 8-1 mark at home. This season, the Tide is scheduled to appear six times on the SEC Network with two additional matches on ESPNU.
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
- Nov. 8, 2015 vs. South Carolina: W, 3-1
- Nov. 15, 2015 vs. Auburn: W, 3-0
- Nov. 25, 2015 vs. Ole Miss: L, 3-1
NEXT TIME OUT: AT GEORGIA / MISSISSIPPI STATE
Next weekend, Alabama continues SEC play on the road, facing Georgia on Friday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. CT in Athens before heading west to Starkville to face Mississippi State on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 3 p.m. CT. Sunday's match against the Bulldogs will be live on the SEC Network.
