Volleyball Opens November With Home Matches Against Georgia and LSU

Friday, November 2

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

7 p.m. CT

Alabama

Georgia

Volleyball Opens November With Home Matches Against Georgia and LSU

11/1/2018 9:47:00 AM | Volleyball

Match Notes (PDF)Live Stats Live Video vs. Georgia Live Video vs. LSU

THIS WEEKEND:
ALABAMA (18-7, 5-6 SEC) VS. GEORGIA (12-10, 3-8 SEC)
Friday, Nov. 2 – 7 p.m. CT
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Foster Auditorium

ALABAMA (18-7, 5-6 SEC) VS. LSU (7-14, 2-8 SEC)
Sunday, Nov. 4 – 1 p.m. CT
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Foster Auditorium

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama is 18-7 overall and 5-6 in conference play after splitting its two matches last weekend, defeating Texas A&M Friday in five sets before falling in four Sunday against Ole Miss
Among SEC teams, Alabama's defense leads the league in digs (1,409 - 15.83/set) and is third in blocks (219 - 2.46/set). Individually, senior Quincey Gary is third in the league with 401 digs (4.51/set) while senior Cidavia Hall and junior Hayley McSparin are ranked fourth and seventh in blocks with 95 (1.07/set) and 91 (1.02/set), respectively
The Tide is No. 39 in this week's NCAA RPI, the sixth-highest among SEC teams
Head Coach Ed Allen is in his eighth season at the helm of the program in 2018, owning a 152-99 (.606) record at UA and a 646-282 (.696) overall mark as a head coach

ALL-TIME VS. GEORGIA

Overall: 57th Meeting (Alabama leads 31-25)
In Tuscaloosa: 12-12 | In Athens: 12-11 | At Neutral Sites: 7-2
Current Streak: Georgia +2
Last Meeting: Nov. 5, 2017 - Tuscaloosa, Ala. - L, 0-3

ALL-TIME VS. LSU

Overall: 65th Meeting (LSU leads 35-29)
In Tuscaloosa: 19-13 | In Baton Rouge: 6-20 | At Neutral Sites: 4-2
Current Streak: Alabama +1
Last Meeting: Nov. 19, 2017 - Tuscaloosa, Ala. - W, 3-1

LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA DEFEATS TEXAS A&M FRIDAY, FALLS TO OLE MISS SUNDAY

Alabama 3, Texas A&M 2: Alabama dropped the opening set to Texas A&M before rallying with convincing wins in the second and third sets to take a 2-1 match lead. The Aggies posted its own double-digit win in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth, but the Tide held steady to win by five points in the fifth and take the match. The match was just Alabama's third five-set match of the season, its first in conference play. The Tide is now 3-0 in five-set matches this year. On the offensive end, junior Hayley McSparin led the team with a season-high 14 kills and .462 hitting percentage. Junior Mahalia Swink was just behind with 10 kills while also stuffing a season-best six blocks on defense. Sophomore Meghan Neelon paced the offense with 24 assists, adding 19 digs for her seventh double-double of the year and her fourth in conference play. Senior Quincey Gary's team-leading 24 digs pushes her career total to 1,323, which puts her 37 away from third-place on Alabama's career record list
Ole Miss 3, Alabama 1: Alabama volleyball dropped a hard fought four-set battle Sunday evening to Ole Miss, winning the first set 30-28 before falling in the subsequent three 22-25, 21-25 and 19-25. Alabama and Ole Miss were neck-and-neck statistically, with the Rebels holding a slim .256-.231 edge on offense while kills, digs and blocks were within five of each other. Four Crimson Tide players were in double figures in kills, led by junior Mahalia Swink with 19 and a .342 hitting percentage. The Bakersfield, Calif., native also added 16 digs for her third double-double of the season. Sophomore Doris Carter also tallied a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs along with a .300 clip. Senior Quincey Gary led the back-row defense with 29 digs, putting her eight away from third place on Alabama's career digs list.

ALABAMA IN THE RPI

Alabama is No. 39 in this week's NCAA RPI, released Monday, Oct. 29
This puts the Tide sixth among SEC teams, trailing Kentucky (9), Florida (19), Missouri (24), South Carolina (29) and Tennessee (30)
Alabama has seven matches remaining in the regular season, facing Kentucky (9), Georgia (84), Texas A&M (86), Arkansas (100), LSU (103), Ole Miss (104) and Mississippi State (230)

NOVEMBER BOUNCE-BACK

Alabama has posted a better November record than its October record in five of the seven previous seasons under head coach Ed Allen. Not including this season, the Tide is 23-33 (.411) in October but 29-24 (.547) in November
Prior to this season, the Tide had earned five wins in October only twice under Allen, doing so in 2013 and 2014. Alabama has had at least five wins during the month of November four times, winning seven in 2013, six in 2014 and five in both 2015 and 2016
Six of this month's seven remaining opponents are lower than the Tide in the SEC standings and in the NCAA RPI rankings

BALANCED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL

Through 25 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 .353 ranks sixth in program history. The last Tide hitter to finish the season above .350 was Bruna Evangelista in 2014 at .378
Defensively, the team currently ranks third in digs per set (15.83) and seventh in blocks-per-set (2.46). The blocks average is the highest under Ed Allen and the highest for any Tide team since 2006
Senior Quincey Gary is averaging 4.51 digs per set this season, which is third in UA history. This bests her previous high mark of 4.43 from last year, which ranks fourth
Hall is 12th with 1.07 blocks per set this season, which is the highest mark under Allen and for any Tide player since 2006. Junior Hayley McSparin is close behind at 17th, averaging 1.02 blocks per set

ALABAMA IN THE SEC RANKINGS (TOP 10)
Team

Digs - 1st - 1,409 (15.83/set)
Blocks - 3rd - 219 (2.46/set)
Opponent Hitting Percentage - 3rd - .182
Assists - 8th - 1,086 (12.20/set)
Aces - 8th - 112 (1.26/set)
Kills - 8th - 1,165 (13.09/set)
Hitting Percentage - 9th - .225

Individual

Quincey Gary
- Digs - 3rd - 401 (4.51/set)
Cidavia Hall
- Hitting Percentage - 4th - .353
- Blocks - 5th - 95 (1.07/set)
Hayley McSparin
- Blocks - 7th - 91 (1.02/set)
Meghan Neelon
- Aces - 7th - 29 (0.33/set)
- Assists - 10th - 572 (6.43/set)
Ginger Perinar
- Kills - 10th - 285 (3.20/set)

GARY CONTINUES TO CLIMB CAREER DIGS LIST AT UA

Senior libero Quincey Gary heads into this weekend's matches against Georgia and LSU ranked fourth on Alabama's career digs list with 1,352
Gary passed Michelle Green's (1997-00) career total of 1,264 digs in the Oct. 17 match against Mississippi State. She is now eight away from third-place Lorian Newcomer (1993-95) with 1,360 career 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 seventh in career digs per set at 3.13. 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

UP NEXT
Alabama has a full week off before heading to Lexington, Ky., to face 12th-ranked Kentucky Sunday, Nov. 11 at 12:30 p.m. CT.