Alabama Resumes SEC Play Sunday With Road Match at 11th-Ranked Florida

Sunday, October 14

Gainesville, Fla.

12:30 p.m. CT

Alabama

Florida

Photo by: Kristen Taylor

Alabama Resumes SEC Play Sunday With Road Match at 11th-Ranked Florida

10/13/2018 9:57:00 AM | Volleyball

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THIS WEEKEND: ALABAMA (15-5, 2-4 SEC) AT NO. 11 FLORIDA (16-3, 7-0 SEC)

Sunday, Oct. 14 – 12:30 p.m. CT
Gainesville, Fla. – Stephen C. O'Connell Center

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama is 15-5 overall and 2-4 in conference play after sweeping Alabama State at home Wednesday
Among SEC teams, Alabama's defense leads the league in digs (1,042, 15.55/set) and is third in blocks (167, 2.49/set). Individually, senior Quincey Gary is third in the league with 298 digs (4.45/set) while senior Cidavia Hall and junior Hayley McSparin are ranked fifth and seventh, respectively, in blocks at 73 (1.09/set) and 70 (1.04/set)
Hall and Gary's numbers this season put them among the single-season leaders in program history, with Gary's 4.34 digs per set and Hall's .356 hitting percentage both ranked fifth
Sunday's match marks the second meeting this season between the Tide and the Gators. Florida won the first matchup in Tuscaloosa, 3-0, on Sept. 30. Alabama's last contest in Gainesville was a three-set loss on Nov. 13, 2016.
Head Coach Ed Allen is in his eighth season at the helm of the program in 2018, owning a 149-97 (.606) record at UA and a 643-280 (.697) overall mark as a head coach

ALL-TIME VS. FLORIDA

Overall: 51st Meeting (Florida Leads 45-5)
In Tuscaloosa: 2-22 | In Gainesville: 0-20 | At Neutral Sites: 3-3
Current Streak: Florida +45
Last Meeting: Sept. 30, 2018 - Tuscaloosa, Ala. - L, 0-3
Last Meeting in Gainesville: Nov. 13, 2016 - L, 0-3
Series Notes: Alabama won its first five meetings vs. Florida, who was a club team at that point, but the Gators have since won 45-straight matches dating back to 1980. Florida has won 44-consecutive sets, with the Crimson Tide last winning a set on Sept. 30, 2007 in Tuscaloosa

LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA CRUISES TO WEDNESDAY SWEEP OVER ALABAMA STATE
Alabama volleyball made quick work of Alabama State Wednesday night at Foster Auditorium, sweeping the Hornets with set scores of 25-14, 26-24 and 25-9. A second-half push propelled Alabama to a double-digit win in the opening set before a close affair in the second that saw the Hornets reach set point, 24-23, before the Tide scored back-to-back to edge out the two-point victory. The third set was all Alabama, posting its largest margin of victory this season with a 25-9 win to complete the sweep. Junior Ginger Perinar led the offense with 12 kills and a .381 hitting percentage. Sophomore Meghan Neelon was two digs shy of a double-double, posting eight along with a team-leading 19 assists. Sophomore Doris Carter tallied a pair of service aces along with a team-leading four blocks

ED ALLEN VS. IN-STATE OPPONENTS

Wednesday's match against Alabama State was the fifth in-state opponent Alabama faced this season, improving its season record against in-state teams to 5-0. The Crimson Tide previously earned wins over Samford (Sept. 11), South Alabama (Sept. 14) and Auburn twice (Sept. 23, Oct. 7).
Under head coach Ed Allen, the Crimson Tide is 30-6 (.833) against schools from the state of Alabama
Alabama's lone home loss to an in-state program came in Allen's first year (2011) against Auburn. Since then, the Tide is 18-0 at Foster Auditorium
Of those 36 matches against in-state opponents, 13 have come against Auburn. The next most-frequent in-state opponents are Alabama State at seven and Samford at six

BALANCED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL

Through 20 matches, Alabama's .228 team hitting percentage ranks 13th on UA's single-season records
It is the sixth time under head coach Ed Allen that a Tide offense ranks in the top-15, including four of the top-10
Senior Cidavia Hall's current mark of .356 ranks fifth in program history. The last Tide hitter to finish the season above .360 was Bruna Evangelista in 2014 at .378
Defensively, the team currently ranks sixth in blocks-per-set (2.51) and seventh in digs per set (15.41). The blocks average is the highest under Ed Allen and the highest for any Tide team since 2006
Senior Quincey Gary is averaging 4.34 digs per set this season, which is fifth in UA history. This just trails her previous best mark of 4.43 from last year, which ranks third.
Cidavia Hall and Hayley McSparin are in the top-15 in blocks per set, ranked 11th (1.10) and 15th (1.04), respectively. Both marks are the highest under Allen and for any Tide player since 2006.

BLOCK PARTY

Alabama is third in the SEC and in the top-40 nationally in both total blocks (176) and blocks per set (2.51)
The Tide's 176 team blocks is 34th nationally and that total has come in fewer sets played than all but three teams ranked above it
The team's 2.51 blocks per set ranks 39th, with Alabama as one of 41 teams nationally to average higher than 2.50 per set
Both Cidavia Hall and Hayley McSparin rank in the top 10 in the SEC at fifth and seventh, respectively. Missouri and Florida are the only other conference teams with two among the top 10 in the category

GARY CONTINUES TO CLIMB CAREER DIGS LIST AT UA

Senior libero Quincey Gary heads into Wednesday's match against Alabama State ranked fifth on Alabama's career digs list with 1,255
Gary is now nine shy of fourth-place Michelle Green's (1997-00) career total of 1,264 digs.
Gary is one of four Tide athletes in the top 10 coached by Ed Allen, including Natalie Murison (2nd - 1,501), Brittany Thomas (6th - 1,195) and Kryssi Daniels (8th - 1,145).
The Alexandria, Ind., native also ranks eighth in career digs-per-set at 3.04. The last Tide player to play four seasons at UA and finish above 3.00 in digs-per-set for their career was Amy Pauly (2005-08) at 3.91

ALABAMA IN THE SEC RANKINGS (TOP 10)
Team