Alabama Volleyball Travels to Mississippi State for Friday Night Contest on SEC Network

Friday, October 27

Starkville, Miss.

8 P.M. CT

Alabama

Mississippi State

Alabama Volleyball Travels to Mississippi State for Friday Night Contest on SEC Network

10/26/2017 9:08:00 AM | Volleyball

Match Notes (PDF)Live Stats Live Video

THIS WEEKEND
Alabama (15-8, 3-6 SEC) at Mississippi State (9-15, 0-9 SEC)
Friday, Oct. 27 – 8 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
Starkville, Miss. – Newell-Grissom Building

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama is 15-8 overall this season and 3-6 in Southeastern Conference play. Last week, the Tide fell in three sets to fourth-ranked Florida on Friday before earning a five-set comeback victory on Sunday vs. South Carolina.
The Tide is ranked No. 43 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings, with four matches remaining against higher-ranked opponents including Kentucky (4), Auburn (36), Texas A&M (41) and LSU (28).
Senior Leah Lawrence currently leads the offense with 217 kills and a .328 hitting percentage, followed closely in kills by freshman Christine Jarman's 211. Lawrence also leads the team with 26 service aces and 95 blocks. Freshman setter Meghan Neelon has a team-leading 879 assists, averaging 10.1 per set, and junior libero Quincey Gary leads the defense with 394 digs.
Five of Alabama's remaining nine matches will be played at home. Under head coach Ed Allen, the Tide is 71-29 (.710) in Foster Auditorium, including an 8-2 record this season.
Five of Alabama's remaining nine matches will be broadcast on the SEC Network, including the next four straight. Since the network's introduction in 2014, the Tide has been featured in 23 matches, winning 16 of them with a 12-3 mark at home and 4-4 mark on the road.

LAST WEEK: ALABAMA SPLITS HOME MATCHES VS. FLORIDA AND SOUTH CAROLINA

Florida 3, Alabama 1: Alabama volleyball fell in three sets to No. 4 Florida Friday night in Foster Auditorium by set scores of 17-25, 18-25 and 17-25. Sophomores Ginger Perinar and Mahalia Swink were the only players with double-digit kills, earning 12 and 10 respectively. The pair accounted for 22 of the team's 32 kills. Freshman Meghan Neelon earned her team-leading seventh double-double, finishing with 25 assists and 15 digs.
Alabama 3, South Carolina 2: Alabama won the opening set, 25-19, but fell in the next two to South Carolina, 18-25 and 23-25. Behind a raucous crowd in Foster Auditorium, the Crimson Tide evened the match with a 25-22 win in the fourth set and a 15-7 win in the fifth. The teams were nearly even statistically, but strong play from the service line made a big difference with Alabama earning seven service aces, more than twice South Carolina's total. With the win, Alabama remains undefeated in five-set matches this season at 5-0. Sophomore Ginger Perinar led the team with 22 kills, a career-high and the most kills for any Tide player this season. Alabama had four players with double-digit digs, led by sophomore Mahalia Swink with a career-best 22. Freshman Meghan Neelon was also in double-digits with 15, adding 53 assists for her eighth double-double of the season.

ALABAMA IN THE SEC RANKINGS (TOP FIVE)
Team (Overall)

3rd - Digs (1,378, 15.84/set)
5th - Blocks (215, 2.47/set)
5th - Opponent Hitting Percentage (.191)

Individual (Overall)

3rd - Digs - Quincey Gary (394, 4.53/set)
5th - Assists - Meghan Neelon (879, 10.10/set)

Team (SEC Only)

1st - Digs (568, 15.78/set)

Individual (SEC Only)

4th - Digs - Quincey Gary (154, 4.28/set)
5th - Kills - Ginger Perinar (127, 3.53/set)

MEGHAN NEELON APPROACHING TOP-FIVE FRESHMAN MARK
Freshman setter Meghan Neelon has 879 assists through 87 sets played this season, averaging 10.1 per set. With nine matches remaining on the schedule, Neelon has the opportunity to post one of the top five highest assist totals by a Crimson Tide freshman in program history. Currently, she is 117 shy of teammate Shannon Mikesky's fifth-place freshman total of 996 from last season.

Alabama Freshman Assist Leaders

Jennifer Miller (1989) - 1,401
Brigitte Slack (2004) - 1,362
Sierra Wilson (2012) - 1,293
Allison Lange (1997) - 1,270
Shannon Mikesky (2016) - 996

QUINCEY GARY POSTING CAREER-BEST DIG NUMBERS AT LIBERO
In her first full season as the team's libero, junior Quincey Gary is quickly posting career dig numbers from the back row. She currently leads the team and ranks third in the SEC with 394 digs, averaging 4.53 per set. The total is already a career best for Gary and puts her just 27 shy of cracking Alabama's single-season top 10. The highest single-season dig total under current head coach Ed Allen came two years ago from current senior Natalie Murison, who earned 469 as a sophomore in 2015. That mark currently ranks sixth in program history.

GINGER PERINAR FINDING HER PACE IN SEC PLAY
Sophomore Ginger Perinar has at least 12 kills in eight of the nine SEC matches so far this season, or 89 percent. Under head coach Ed Allen, Krystal Rivers is the only other player to earn 12 or more kills in over 80 percent of SEC matches in a season, doing so as a senior in 2016 in 16 of the team's 18 conference matches. If Perinar can earn at least 12 kills in 10 SEC matches this year, it would mark the 10th time it has happened with Allen at the helm.

12+ Kills in at least 10 SEC Matches (2011-present)

16 - Krystal Rivers (2016)
14 - Krystal Rivers (2015)
13 - Krystal Rivers (2013)
12 - Kat Hutson (2014, 2015), Krystal Rivers (2014)
11 - Kayla Fitterer (2012), Laura Steiner (2012)
10 - Kayla Fitterer (2011)

ALABAMA VOLLEYBALL TO APPEAR FIVE MORE TIMES ON SEC NETWORK
Five of Alabama's remaining nine matches are slated to broadcast live on the SEC Network, including its next four straight.

Friday, Oct. 27 at Mississippi State - 6 p.m. CT
Wednesday, Nov. 1 at Auburn - 7 p.m. CT
Sunday, Nov. 5 vs. Georgia - Noon CT
Wednesday, Nov. 8 vs. Kentucky - 7 p.m. CT
Wednesday, Nov. 22 at Missouri - 5 p.m. CT

ALABAMA VOLLEYBALL SHINES ON SEC NETWORK
Since the launch of the SEC Network during the 2014 season, Alabama has been featured in 23 matches, winning 16 of them with a 12-3 mark at home and 4-4 mark on the road.

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, 2-3
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, 1-3
Sept. 23, 2016 vs. Texas A&M: W, 3-2
Sept. 25, 2016 vs. Florida: L, 0-3
Oct. 2, 2016 at Mississippi State: L, 2-3
Oct. 28, 2016 vs. Tennessee: L, 0-3
Nov. 6, 2016 vs. Arkansas: W, 3-1
Nov. 13, 2016 at Florida: L, 0-3
Sept. 22, 2017 at Georgia: L, 0-3
Sept. 27, 2017 vs. Arkansas: W, 3-2
Oct. 22, 2017 vs. South Carolina: W, 3-2

UP NEXT
On Wednesday, Nov. 1, Alabama travels to face in-state rival Auburn (11-8, 4-6 SEC) at 7 p.m. CT before returning home to play Georgia (14-8, 4-5 SEC) on Sunday, Nov. 5 at Noon. Both matches will be live on the SEC Network.