Alabama
Cleveland State
Alabama Volleyball Heads to Purdue to Open Season at Mortar Board Premier
8/24/2017 9:00:00 AM | Volleyball
THIS WEEK
Mortar Board Premier – August 25-26 – West Lafayette, Ind.
- vs. Cleveland State – Friday, Aug. 25 – 11 a.m. CT
- vs. Oral Roberts – Friday, Aug. 25 – 4:30 p.m. CT
- at #25 Purdue – Saturday, Aug. 26 – 2 p.m. CT
SCOUTING ALABAMA
- The Crimson Tide finished the 2016 season at 20-11 overall and 9-9 in SEC play, finishing fifth in the league.
- Last season marked the program's third 20-win season in the last four years, the first such stretch in program history.
- Head Coach Ed Allen returns for his seventh season at the helm of the Crimson Tide, carrying a 116-78 record at Alabama and a 610-261 career record over 25 years. Allen's teams have finished with a winning record in 24 of his 25 seasons as a head coach.
- Alabama returns 11 letterwinners from last season and five regular starters while welcoming eight newcomers, including six freshmen and two transfers.
- Among the returning starters from last season is SEC All-Freshman honoree Hayley McSparin, who started 31 matches and led the team with a .325 hitting percentage and totaled 62 blocks and 234 kills (1.95/set).
CAREER RECORD WATCH
- Senior Leah Lawrence has been a regular starter in each of her previous three years with the Crimson Tide. She is already among the top 10 at Alabama in career total blocks (9th - 326) and block assists (8th - 274) and is only three solo blocks away from cracking the top 10 in that category as well. She is 112 blocks away from the school record of 438 held by Shelly Adamcik (1999-02). Lawrence has surpassed 112 blocks in two of her three seasons at Alabama, including a personal-best 122 last year.
- Senior Natalie Murison has anchored the Tide defense over her first three years in crimson and white, earning 1,276 career digs to place third on the all-time career list at Alabama. She is only 84 shy of tying Lorian Newcomer (1993-95) in second with 1,360 and is 448 away from Amy Pauly's (2005-08) record total of 1,724. Murison has surpassed 400 digs in each of her three years, including a personal-best 469 as a sophomore in 2015.
ALABAMA WINS 2016-17 AVCA TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD
Alabama volleyball was one 145 Division I teams to win the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2016-17 season.
To be honored with the award, a team must display excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA. Alabama was one of eight SEC teams to earn the award this season.
Last season, senior Krystal Rivers was one of two SEC student-athletes to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, becoming just the second two-time honoree in program history, and was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Twelve members of the 2016 Crimson Tide roster earned SEC Academic Honor Roll accolades.
The AVCA has posted record-setting numbers in the award every season since 2006-07 and have been presenting the award since 1992-93. The award honors collegiate athletes of all levels as well as high school athletes, as student-athletes from a record total of 822 teams took home awards this season across Division I, II, III, NAIA, two-year colleges, NCCAA, collegiate men, high school girls, high school boys and college sand volleyball.
ALABAMA VOLLEYBALL TO APPEAR SEVEN TIMES ON SEC NETWORK
The Alabama volleyball team is slated to appear on the SEC Network seven times this season. Additionally, all home matches and select road contests will be streamed online through the SEC Network +. Video streaming links will be posted on the respective sport's schedule page on RollTide.com prior to competition and will be available on WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.
- Friday, Sept. 22 at Georgia - 6 p.m. CT
- Wednesday, Sept. 27 vs. Arkansas - 7 p.m. CT
- 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 - 7 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 20 matches, winning 14 of them with a 10-3 mark at home and 4-3 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
TIDE WELCOMES EIGHT NEWCOMERS TO 2017 ROSTER
Alabama volleyball welcomes eight newcomers to the 2017 roster, including six freshmen and two transfers:
- Karen Crews is a freshman defensive specialist from Dripping Springs, Texas, winning a 5A title in 2015 and runner-up finish in 2014 with Dripping Springs High School. She played club volleyball for Austin Performance, earning a second-place finish at the 2017 Girls Junior National Championship.
- Ashley Homan is a sophomore transfer, arriving in Tuscaloosa after a year at SMU in Dallas. There, she appeared in 14 matches earning 49 kills, 13 digs and 10 blocks. She is originally from Brenham, Texas and was named to the 2015 AVCA Under Armour Watch List playing for Brenham High School and Willowbrook club.
- Christine Jarman is a freshman outside hitter from Boynton Beach, Fla., who led Boca Raton High School to a state title in 2016 and district titles in 2013 and 2015. She was named team MVP in 2015 and earned player of the year honors from the Palm Beach Post and Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. She is a five-time qualifier for the USA Volleyball Junior Olympic nationals, earning a spot on the 2015 USA Volleyball High Performance Team, and was a 2015 National AAU Junior Olympic 16U beach volleyball champion.
- Madison McNally hails from Sarasota, Fla., and ended her four-year career at Cardinal Mooney High School as its all-time career kills leader (1,511). She was a two-time team MVP and First Team All-Area honoree and played on the school's first ever beach volleyball team. She played club volleyball with Tampa United and Venetian Bay Club, qualifying for 2017 nationals.
- Meghan Neelon is a setter from Clarence Center, N.Y., earning top honors at the position in each of the last three years at the USA Volleyball High Performance Women's Continental Team. She is a 2016 AVCA Under Armour All-American and led Clarence High School to a top-four finish at the state tournament as a junior.
- Ginger Perinar arrives in Tuscaloosa for her sophomore season after playing at Southern Illinois last year, earning Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman honors. She played prep volleyball at Minooka High School, leading them to back-to-back state tournament appearances and a sixth-place ranking in the state of Illinois.
- Kaylee Thomas is a defensive specialist out of Ocala, Fla., where she won two state titles with St. John's Lutheran and was named the state's 2A Player of the Year. She played club volleyball with Ocala Power United and is a four-time qualifier for the Junior National Championship.
- Samantha Worley is a native of Honolulu, Hawai'i and was a four-year defensive specialist at 'Ioliani School, winning back-to-back league and state titles. Her play earned her a spot with the Women's Junior National Training Team.
FINDING A HOME AT FOSTER
Since moving back into a renovated Foster Auditorium in 2011, Ed Allen's first year as the Tide's head coach, Alabama has compiled a 63-27 (.700) on its home court. Attendance has surged since its move back to Foster Auditorium as well, welcoming over 12,000 fans in five of Allen's six seasons after only surpassing 10,000 once prior to 2011.
UP NEXT
Alabama continues its 2017 season next weekend at the Jaguar Invitational in Mobile, Ala., hosted by South Alabama. There, the Tide will take on the host Jaguars on Friday, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. CT followed by a pair of matches on Saturday, Sept. 2 against Southern Miss at 10 a.m. CT and McNeese State at 4:30 p.m. CT.
