Alabama
Auburn
Volleyball Returns Home to Host Auburn Sunday
9/22/2018 2:57:00 PM | Volleyball
THIS WEEKEND: NO. 25 ALABAMA (12-2, 0-1 SEC) VS. AUBURN (7-4, 0-1 SEC)
- Sunday, Sept. 23 – 1 p.m. CT
- Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Foster Auditorium
SCOUTING NO. 25 ALABAMA
- Alabama is 12-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play after dropping its SEC opener at Missouri on Wednesday.
- For the second-straight week, the Tide is ranked No. 25 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Alabama is one of three ranked SEC teams, along with Florida (11) and Kentucky (20)
- Among SEC teams, Alabama is second in the league in blocks (126, 2.52/set) and digs (757, 15.14/set). Individually, senior Quincey Gary leads the league with 240 digs (4.80/set), one of just two SEC players above 200
- Alabama's 12 wins are the most of any SEC team and its .857 winning percentage ranks second, only trailing South Carolina at .909 (10-1).
- Head Coach Ed Allen is in his eighth season at the helm of the program in 2018, owning a 146-94 (.608) record at UA and a 640-277 (.698) overall mark as a head coach
ALL-TIME VS. AUBURN
- Overall: 82nd Meeting (Alabama leads 49-32)
- In Tuscaloosa: 26-12 | In Auburn: 18-15 | At Neutral Sites: 5-5
- Current Streak: Auburn +1
- Last Meeting: Nov. 21, 2017 - Auburn, Ala. - L, 2-3
- Series Notes:
- Home court advantage has played a factor in the all-time matchup against Auburn, with Alabama holding a 26-12 advantage in Tuscaloosa while the Tigers are 18-15 on the Plains
- After losing six-straight to Auburn from 2009-12, Alabama has won six of the last eight meetings, including four wins at Foster Auditorium
- In the 11 meetings between the teams with Ed Allen as the Tide's head coach, only three of the matches have been decided in three sets. Five have come in four sets with the remaining three have gone five.
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA FALLS TO MISSOURI IN SEC OPENER WEDNESDAY
Alabama volleyball dropped its Southeastern Conference opener to Missouri Wednesday night, falling in three sets by scores of 22-25, 18-25 and 26-28. The Crimson Tide failed to find a rhythm offensively against the Tigers, hitting .056 as a team with no players posting double-digit kills. Senior Quincey Gary led the back-row defense with 12 digs and is now four shy of moving to fifth place on the UA career record list.
ALABAMA RANKED NO. 25 FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT WEEK
- For the second-straight week, Alabama is No. 25 in the AVCA Coaches Poll
- Last week's top-25 ranking was the first in program history after receiving votes outside the top 25 in each of the preceeding two polls. The Tide made its first appearance in the AVCA poll 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
- Alabama is one of three ranked SEC teams, along with No. 11 Florida and No. 20 Kentucky. Georgia and Tennessee are both receiving votes outside the top 25
- 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
BEST START TO THE SEASON IN PROGRAM HISTORY
- Alabama posted 11 wins before suffering its first loss last weekend, marking its best start to a season 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 11-match winning streak to start the season was the Tide's longest since 2012
- Alabama is one of 21 teams nationally that has one loss or is undefeated. Of the one-loss teams, the Tide and Michigan State are tied for the most wins at 12
ALABAMA IN THE SEC RANKINGS (TOP 10)
Team
- Blocks - 2nd - 126 (2.52/set)
- Digs - 2nd - 757 (15.14/set)
- Assists - 4th - 629 (12.58/set)
- Aces - 4th - 75 (1.50/set)
- Opponent Hitting Percentage - 4th - .171
- Kills - 6th - 664 (13.28/set)
- Hitting Percentage - 7th - .248
Individual
- Quincey Gary
- Digs - 1st - 240 (4.80/set)
- Hayley McSparin
- Blocks - 2nd - 61 (1.22/set)
- Cidavia Hall
- Blocks - T6th - 50 (1.00/set)
- Meghan Neelon
- Aces - 7th - 18 (0.36/set)
- Assists - 9th - 333 (6.66/set)
BALANCED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
- Through 14 matches, Alabama's .248 team hitting percentage ranks sixth on UA's single-season records
- It marks the highest team hitting percentage since finishing the 2014 season at .264, the highest in program history
- Four of the top 10 marks in program history have come under head coach Ed Allen
- Senior Cidavia Hall's current mark of .463 would stand as the best hitting percentage in program history, beating Krystal Rivers' 2013 clip of .404. Rivers is the only player in program history to finish the season above .400
- Defensively, the team currently ranks sixth in blocks-per-set (2.52) and eighth in digs-per-set (15.14). The block average is the highest under Ed Allen and the highest for any Tide team since 2006
GARY CONTINUES TO CLIMB CAREER DIGS LIST AT UA
- With 12 digs Wednesday against Missouri, senior libero Quincey Gary moved to sixth on Alabama's career digs list with 1,191 career digs
- Gary is four digs away from the fifth-place mark of 1,195 set by Brittany Thomas (2013-16). Michelle Green (1997-00) is next on the list with 1,264.
- Gary is one of four Tide athletes in the top 10 coached by Ed Allen, including Natalie Murison (2nd - 1,501), Thomas (5th - 1,195) and Kryssi Daniels (7th - 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 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
Next weekend, Alabama hosts a pair of conference opponents at Foster Auditorium, starting Friday, Sept. 28 against South Carolina at 7 p.m. CT. On Sunday, Sept. 30, the Tide hosts 11th-ranked Florida at 1 p.m. CT.
