Alabama Volleyball Hosts Arkansas Wednesday on the SEC Network

Wednesday, September 27

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

7 P.M. CT

Alabama

Arkansas

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Alabama Volleyball Hosts Arkansas Wednesday on the SEC Network

9/26/2017 2:39:00 PM | Volleyball

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THIS WEEK
Alabama (11-4, 0-2 SEC) vs. Arkansas (11-3, 1-1 SEC)
Wednesday, Sept. 27 – 7 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Foster Auditorium

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama is 11-4 overall this season and is 0-2 in Southeastern Conference play. Last weekend the Crimson Tide fell in two conference road matches against Georgia, 0-3, and Ole Miss, 1-3.
As a team, Alabama is ranked third in the SEC in opponent hitting percentage (.162) and digs (852, 15.78/set) and is fourth in blocks (138, 2.56/set) and service aces (76, 1.41/set). Individually, junior Quincey Gary is third in the league in digs (259, 4.80/set), freshman Meghan Neelon is fifth in assists (545, 10.09/set) and sixth in aces (18, 0.33/set) and sophomore Hayley McSparin is seventh in blocks (58, 1.12/set).
This week, the Tide returns home for a pair of SEC matches against Arkansas on Wednesday and Missouri on Sunday. Under head coach Ed Allen, Alabama is 33-23 at home in conference play and has posted a winning record in each of the last four seasons. Alabama's best home record in conference play under Allen came in the 2014 season when the Tide went 8-1.
Sophomore Ginger Perinar led the team with 25 kills (3.57/set) last weekend, tying a season high with 12 on Friday against Georgia before besting that on Sunday with 13 against Ole Miss. Sophomore Hayley McSparin and freshman Christine Jarman each had 21 kills (3.00/set), with McSparin hitting .429 between the two matches. McSparin has hit .375 or better in each of her last six matches.

LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA FALLS TWICE TO OPEN SEC PLAY

Georgia 3, Alabama 0: Alabama volleyball fell in straight sets Friday night in its SEC opener at Georgia with set scores of 23-25, 23-25, and 20-25. Alabama was stifled offensively, hitting just .157 as a team while Georgia hit .286. Sophomore Ginger Perinar led the team with a season-high 12 kills while freshman Christine Jarman and senior Hayley McSparin were close behind with nine and eight, respectively. McSparin hit .375 in the match, making it five-straight matches above .300 for the middle blocker. Senior Leah Lawrence stuffed a team-leading five blocks.
Ole Miss 3, Alabama 1: Alabama volleyball fell to Ole Miss in four sets on the road Sunday, winning the first set 25-18 before dropping the next three 21-25, 24-26 and 22-25. Alabama and Ole Miss split the first two sets and with the Tide at set point in the third frame, 24-17, the Rebels fought back with a 9-0 run to win the set and take a 2-1 match lead. Ole Miss won another close contest in the fourth set, 25-22, to cap the victory for the Rebels and hand the Tide its second conference loss of the young season. Alabama had three players with double-digit kills, led by sophomores Ginger Perinar and Hayley McSparin with 13 each while freshman Christine Jarman was close behind with 12. Freshman setter Meghan Neelon tallied her third double-double of the season, finishing with 40 assists and 15 digs, and junior Quincey Gary led the defense with 22 digs.

CAREER RECORD WATCH

Senior Leah Lawrence is already among the top 10 at Alabama in career blocks (5th - 384), block assists (5th - 317) and solo blocks (6th - 67). She is 54 blocks away from the school record of 438 held by Shelly Adamcik (1999-02). Lawrence has surpassed 100 blocks in two of her three previous seasons at Alabama, including a personal-best 122 last year.
Senior Natalie Murison is second in career digs at Alabama with 1,384. She is now 340 away from Amy Pauly's (2005-08) record total of 1,724. Murison has surpassed 400 digs in each of her three previous years, including a personal-best 469 as a sophomore in 2015. She has a career average of 3.16 digs per set, which is seventh all-time at Alabama, and her 438 sets played puts her 11 sets away from cracking the top 10.

ALABAMA VOLLEYBALL SHINES ON SEC NETWORK
Since the launch of the SEC Network during the 2014 season, Alabama has been featured in 21 matches, winning 14 of them with a 10-3 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

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 69-27 (.719) on its home court, including a 6-0 record this season. 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 will be back in action at Foster Auditorium on Sunday, Oct. 1 facing Missouri (8-7, 1-1 SEC) at 1 p.m. CT.