Alabama
South Alabama
25th-Ranked Alabama Hosts Crimson-White Tournament this Weekend
9/13/2018 4:27:00 PM | Volleyball
THIS WEEKEND: CRIMSON-WHITE TOURNAMENT
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Foster Auditorium
Friday, Sept. 14
- vs. South Alabama (5-5) – 10 a.m. CT
- vs. No. 15 Purdue (8-0) – 7 p.m. CT
Sunday, Sept. 15
- vs. Southern Miss (6-4) – 2 p.m. CT
SCOUTING NO. 25 ALABAMA (10-0)
- Alabama won its midweek matchup against Samford to move to 10-0 on the season.
- The Tide is ranked No. 25 in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll, marking the program's first ever top-25 appearance
- For the second time this season, senior Cidavia 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 (519, 14.03/set) and assists (498, 13.46/set)
- Head Coach Ed Allen is in his eighth season at the helm of the program in 2018, owning a 144-92 record at UA and a 638-275 overall mark as a head coach.
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA GOES FIVE AGAINST SAMFORD TUESDAY
Alabama volleyball battled to a hard-fought win in five sets over Samford Tuesday night, posting set scores of 18-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19 and 15-10.
The 25th-ranked Crimson Tide (10-0) had five players post double-digit digs against the Bulldogs (4-7), led by a career-high 22 from sophomore Meghan Neelon. She also paced the offense with 29 assists for her third double-double of the season. Sophomore Doris Carter and junior Mahalia Swink also secured double-doubles, with Carter tallying 13 kills and 13 digs while Swink posted 13 kills and 14 digs.
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 previous 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 10-0 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 10-match winning streak is the Tide's longest since 2013, when UA won 10-straight matches from Sept. 6-24
- Alabama is one of nine undefeated teams in Division-I volleyball, along with Boston College, BYU, Illinois, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Portland, Purdue and Washington State
- An 11th-straight win would mark the longest winning streak since 2012. The program's longest winning streak since becoming an NCAA program in 1989 was a 13-game streak during the 2005 season.
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 .514 hitting percentage
ALABAMA IN THE SEC RANKINGS (TOP 5)
Team
- Kills - 1st - 519 (14.03/set)
- Assists - 1st - 498 (13.46/set)
- Hitting Percentage - 2nd - .266
- Blocks - 2nd - 102 (2.76/set)
- Digs - 2nd - 594 (16.05/set)
- Opponent Hitting Percentage - 3rd - .153
- Aces - 4th - 58 (1.57/set)
Individual
- Cidavia Hall
- Hitting Percentage - 1st - .514
- Hayley McSparin
- Blocks - 3rd - 48 (1.30/set)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
- Quincey Gary
- Digs - 1st - 189 (5.11/set)
GARY AMONG TOP 10 IN CAREER DIGS AT UA
- Senior libero Quincey Gary is ninth in UA history with 1,140 career digs
- She is one dig away from the eighth-place mark of 1,141 set by Monica Morales (1997-2000) and five shy of Kryssi Daniels' (2012-15) seventh-place total of 1,145.
- 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 Daniels (7th - 1,145).
- The Alexandria, Ind., native also ranks eighth in career digs-per-set at 3.00. 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) at 3.91.
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 78-32 (.709) record on its home court, including a 4-0 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
Alabama opens conference play next week with a pair of matches. The Tide travels to Columbia, Mo., on Wednesday, Sept. 19, facing Missouri at 8 p.m. CT live on ESPNU before returning home to host Auburn Sunday, Sept. 23 at 1 p.m. CT.
