Volleyball Continues Home Stand Tuesday Against Samford

Tuesday, September 11

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

7 p.m. CT

Alabama

Samford

Volleyball Continues Home Stand Tuesday Against Samford

9/10/2018 4:58:00 PM | Volleyball

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THIS WEEK: NO. 25 ALABAMA (9-0) VS. SAMFORD (4-6)
Tuesday, Sept. 11 – 7 p.m. CT
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Foster Auditorium

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama won all three matches last weekend at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash, defeating Marshall, Georgia Tech and Northern Illinois. The Crimson Tide is 9-0 to start the season for the first time since becoming an NCAA program in 1989.
The Tide is ranked No. 25 in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll, marking the program's first ever top-25 appearance
For their efforts over the weekend, senior Cidavia Hall and junior Mahalia Swink were named to the Hampton Inn Bama Bash All-Tournament team while junior Ginger Perinar was the Tournament MVP.
For the second time this season, Hall was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week. She joins fellow senior Quincey Gary and former Tide player Amy Pauly as the only two-time Defensive Player of the Week in program history.
Among SEC teams, Alabama is ranked in the top three in every major statistical category and leads the league in kills (456, 14.25/set) and assists (437, 13.66/set)
Head Coach Ed Allen is in his eighth season at the helm of the program in 2018, owning a 143-92 record at UA and a 637-275 overall mark as a head coach.

LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA OPENS HOME SLATE WITH THREE WINS

Alabama 3, Marshall 1 (25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 25-11): Sophomore Doris Carter led the offense with 14 kills and a .375 hitting percentage. The Tide had five players in double-digit kills, with Carter joined by juniors Ginger Perinar, Mahalia Swink and Hayley McSparin and senior Cidavia Hall. Carter, Swink and Hall all finished the match hitting above .300, with the Tide hitting .299 as a team.
Alabama 3, Georgia Tech 0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-23): The Tide continued its winning streak with a sweep over Georgia Tech, holding the Yellow Jackets to a .077 clip while hitting .298 as a team. Perinar and Carter both hit above .300 and finished with double-digit kills, with Perinar posting 16 and a .343 clip. Carter added a season-best three aces from the service line, as did Swink.
Alabama 3, Northern Illinois 0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-12): Alabama secured its best start to a season in program history with a three-set sweep over Northern Illinois in the final match of the Hampton Inn Bama Bash. The Tide hit .296 as a team, led by career-high hitting percentages from juniors Hayley McSparin (.667) and Mahalia Swink (.625). Swink was second on the team with 11 kills, only trailing junior Ginger Perinar in that category with 12.

ALABAMA RANKED FOR FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY

Alabama is ranked No. 25 in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll, marking the program's first ever top-25 ranking
The Tide was receiving votes outside the top 25 in each of the last two polls
Alabama is one of three ranked SEC teams, trailing No. 11 Florida and No. 20 Kentucky
Alabama's first-ever appearance in the AVCA rankings came in the week-five poll during the 2014 season, where the Tide received votes. The Tide received votes outside the top 25 in all but one of the remaining polls that season.
The Tide made its first appearance in the AVCA polls this season in the week one poll, released Aug. 27. It was the program's first appearance in the national rankings since the 2015 preseason poll

BEST START TO THE SEASON IN PROGRAM HISTORY

Alabama is 9-0 to start the season, its best start since becoming an NCAA program in 1989
The program's previous best start was 8-0 in 2004. The best start under head coach Ed Allen was a 5-0 run to begin the 2014 season, which ended in an appearance in the NCAA Tournament
The nine-match winning streak is the Tide's longest since 2014, when UA won nine-straight matches from Sept. 12-28
Alabama is one of nine undefeated teams in Division-I volleyball, along with Boston College, BYU, Illinois, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Portland, Purdue and Washington State

CIDAVIA HALL EARNS SECOND SEC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD

The weekly conference honor is the second this season for Hall, previously winning after week one at the Hampton Inn Charleston/West Ashley CofC Classic
Hall joins fellow senior Quincey Gary and former Crimson Tide player Amy Pauly as the only two-time Defensive Player of the Week in program history
Hall was named to the Hampton Inn Bama Bash All-Tournament team this past weekend, stuffing four blocks in each of Alabama's three wins over the weekend. She was also dominant on the offensive end, hitting .452 with 19 kills.
This season, Hall leads the SEC with a .500 hitting percentage and is fourth with 40 blocks, averaging 1.25 per set.

ALABAMA IN THE SEC RANKINGS (TOP 5)
Team

Kills - 1st - 456 (14.25/set)
Assists - 1st - 437 (13.66/set)
Hitting Percentage - 2nd - .273
Blocks - 2nd - 90 (2.81/set)
Digs - 2nd - 506 (15.81/set)
Opponent Hitting Percentage - 2nd - .147
Aces - 3rd - 55 (1.72/set)

Individual

Cidavia Hall
- Hitting Percentage - 1st - .500
- Blocks - 4th - 40 (1.25/set)
Hayley McSparin
- Blocks - 3rd - 41 (1.28/set)
- Hitting Percentage - 5th - .373
Mahalia Swink
- Aces - 4th - 15 (0.47/set)
Quincey Gary
- Digs - 1st - 169 (5.28/set)

GARY AMONG TOP 10 IN CAREER DIGS AT UA

Senior libero Quincey Gary is ninth in UA history with 1,120 career digs
She is 21 digs away from the eighth-place mark of 1,141 set by Monica Morales from 1997-2000.
Gary is one of four Tide athletes in the top 10 coached by Ed Allen, including Natalie Murison (2nd - 1,501), Brittany Thomas (5th - 1,195) and Kryssi Daniels (7th - 1,145).
The Alexandria, Ind., native also ranks eighth in career digs-per-set at 2.99. The last Tide player to play four seasons at UA and finish above 3.00 digs-per-set for their career was Amy Pauly (2005-08).

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 77-32 (.706) record on its home court, including a 3-0 record so far 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 previous seasons after just surpassing 10,000 once prior to 2011.

UP NEXT
This weekend, Alabama hosts the Crimson-White Tournament in Foster Auditorium. The Tide opens play Friday, Sept. 14, facing South Alabama at 10 a.m. CT and No. 15 Purdue at 7 p.m. CT. On Saturday, Sept. 15, Alabama concludes tournament play against Southern Miss at 2 p.m. CT.