Alabama Hosts Mississippi State Wednesday in Annual Power of Pink Match on ESPNU

Wednesday, October 17

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

6 p.m. CT

Alabama

Mississippi State

Alabama Hosts Mississippi State Wednesday in Annual Power of Pink Match on ESPNU

10/16/2018 12:16:00 PM | Volleyball

Match Notes (PDF)Live Stats Live Video (ESPNU)

THIS WEEK: ALABAMA (15-6, 2-5 SEC) VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE (5-15, 1-6 SEC)

Wednesday, Oct. 17 – 6 p.m. CT
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – 6 p.m. CT
TV: ESPNU

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama is 15-6 overall and 2-5 in conference play after falling to 11th-ranked Florida on Sunday on the road. This week, the Crimson Tide hosts Mississippi State Wednesday, Oct. 17 before traveling to face Arkansas Sunday, Oct. 21.
Among SEC teams, Alabama's defense leads the league in digs (1,112, 15.23/set) and is third in blocks (177, 2.42/set). Individually, senior Quincey Gary is third in the league with 309 digs (4.23/set) while senior Cidavia Hall and junior Hayley McSparin are ranked sixth and ninth, respectively, in blocks at 78 (1.07/set) and 73 (1.00/set)
Wednesday's match marks the Tide's third appearance on national television this season, previously facing Missouri on ESPNU and Tennessee on SEC Network. Alabama's Oct. 28 match against Ole Miss is its lone remaining televised contest after this week.
Head Coach Ed Allen is in his eighth season at the helm of the program in 2018, owning a 149-98 (.603) record at UA and a 643-281 (.696) overall mark as a head coach

ALL-TIME VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE

Overall: 66th Meeting (Alabama leads 48-17)
In Tuscaloosa: 23-5 | In Starkville: 18-11 | At Neutral Sites: 7-1
Current Streak: Alabama +2
Last Meeting: Oct. 27, 2017 - Starkville, Miss. - W, 3-0
Series Notes: Alabama is 7-3 against Mississippi State under head coach Ed Allen. The Bulldogs won the first two meetings in 2011 but the Tide has since won seven of the last eight contests. The lone loss in that stretch came on Oct. 2, 2016 in Starkville, Miss. The Tide is undefeated against the Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa since 2012 with no contest stretching longer than four sets.

LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA FALLS TO FLORIDA SUNDAY
Alabama dropped a three-set decision Sunday to No. 11 Florida on the road. The Crimson Tide lost a close two-point opening set to the 11th-ranked Gators. Florida won the remaining two by increasing margins of seven points, 25-18, and nine points, 25-16. Junior Hayley McSparin led the Crimson Tide's offensive effort with nine kills out of the middle, while senior Quincey Gary finished the match with five digs, putting her four away from fourth place on the Tide's career digs list.

POWER OF PINK
Wednesday's match is the Crimson Tide's annual Power of Pink match. The initiative was started during the 2004-05 season by former UA gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson to help raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer. Every women's sport at UA chooses one event each season to eschew its traditional crimson and white and sports pink uniforms instead. Pink t-shirts and shakers are also given away to fans.

BALANCED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL

Through 21 matches, Alabama's .225 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 .371 ranks fourth in program history. The last Tide hitter to finish the season above .370 was Bruna Evangelista in 2014 at .378
Defensively, the team currently ranks seventh in blocks-per-set (2.42) and eighth in digs per set (15.23). The blocks average is the highest under Ed Allen and the highest for any Tide team since 2006
Senior Quincey Gary is averaging 4.23 digs per set this season, which is sixth in UA history. This trails her previous best mark of 4.43 from last year, which ranks third.
Cidavia Hall and Hayley McSparin are in the top-20 in blocks per set, ranked 12th (1.07) and 19th (1.00), respectively. Hall's mark is the highest under Allen and for any Tide player since 2006

BLOCK PARTY

Alabama is third in the SEC in both total blocks (177) and blocks per set (2.42)
The Tide's 177 team blocks is 59th nationally and the team's 2.42 blocks per set ranks 51st, with Alabama as one of 57 teams nationally to average higher than 2.40 per set
Both Cidavia Hall and Hayley McSparin rank in the top 10 in the SEC at sixth and ninth, 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 Mississippi State ranked fifth on Alabama's career digs list with 1,260
Gary is now four 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 3.03. 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