Alabama
South Carolina
Volleyball Hosts South Carolina Friday, Florida Sunday in Tuscaloosa
9/27/2018 2:39:00 PM | Volleyball
THIS WEEKEND:
ALABAMA (13-2, 1-1 SEC) VS. SOUTH CAROLINA (11-1, 2-0 SEC)
- Friday, Sept. 28 - 7 p.m. CT
- Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Foster Auditorium
- Live Video
ALABAMA (13-2, 1-1 SEC) VS. #11 FLORIDA (12-3, 3-0 SEC)
- Sunday, Sept. 30 – 1 p.m. CT
- Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Foster Auditorium
- Live Video
SCOUTING ALABAMA
- Alabama is 13-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play after posting a four-set win over Auburn Sunday in Tuscaloosa.
- The Crimson Tide is receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 this week. Alabama has appeared in five of the six coaches' polls this season.
- Among SEC teams, Alabama's defense leads the league in and digs (826, 15.30/set) and is third in blocks (132, 2.44/set). Individually, senior Quincey Gary leads the league with 255 digs (4.72/set), one of just two SEC players above 200
- Alabama's 13 wins are the most of any SEC team and its .867 winning percentage ranks second, only trailing South Carolina at .917 (11-1).
- Head Coach Ed Allen is in his eighth season at the helm of the program in 2018, owning a 147-94 (.610) record at UA and a 641-277 (.698) overall mark as a head coach
ALL-TIME VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
- Overall: 50th Meeting (Alabama leads 30-19)
- In Tuscaloosa: 16-6 | In Columbia: 10-12 | At Neutral Sites: 4-1
- Current Streak: South Carolina +1
- Last Meeting: Nov. 17, 2017 - Columbia, S.C. - L, 1-3
- Series Notes:
- Last year's loss to South Carolina snapped a seven-match winning streak for Alabama over the Gamecocks
- Under head coach Ed Allen, the Tide have only lost three of its 12 meetings with the Gamecocks, and only one at home
ALL-TIME VS. FLORIDA
- Overall: 50th Meeting (Florida Leads 44-5)
- In Tuscaloosa: 2-20 | In Gainesville: 0-20 | At Neutral Sites: 3-3
- Current Streak: Florida +43
- Last Meeting: Oct. 20, 2017 - Tuscaloosa, Ala. - L, 0-3
- Series Notes:
- Alabama won its first five meetings vs. Florida but the Gators have since won 44-straight matches, dating back to 1980
- Florida has won 44-consecutive sets
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA BATTLES TO FOUR-SET WIN OVER AUBURN
Alabama volleyball battled to a hard-fought win in four sets over in-state rival Auburn Sunday in Foster Auditorium, posting set scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-23 and 25-23.
Sophomore Kaylee Thomas led the Alabama back-row defense with a career-high 19 digs over Auburn, while senior Quincey Gary posted 15 to move to fifth on the UA career digs list with 1,206. Sophomore Meghan Neelon and freshman Mylana Byrd split the setting duties nearly evenly, totaling 25 and 24, respectively. Three Crimson Tide attackers finished with double-digit kills, led by junior Ginger Perinar with 16. Sophomore Doris Carter was second with 13, posting 12 digs for a double-double.
ALABAMA RECEIVING VOTES IN AVCA TOP 25
- Alabama is receiving votes in the week-five AVCA Division I coaches poll after being ranked No. 25 the last two weeks. The Tide was receiving votes outside the top 25 in the week-one and two polls.
- The Tide's top-25 ranking was the first in program history after receiving votes outside the top 25 in each of the preceding 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 four SEC teams in this week's poll. Missouri is also receiving votes while Florida is ranked 11th and Kentucky is 19th
- 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
BALANCED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
- Through 15 matches, Alabama's .246 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 team hitting percentages in program history have come under head coach Ed Allen
- Senior Cidavia Hall's current mark of .437 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 seventh in blocks-per-set (2.44) and eighth in digs-per-set (15.30). The blocks average is the highest under Ed Allen and the highest for any Tide team since 2006.
ALABAMA IN THE SEC RANKINGS (TOP 10)
Team
- Digs - 1st - 826 (15.30/set)
- Blocks - 3rd - 132 (2.44/set)
- Assists - 4th - 682 (12.63/set)
- Kills - 6th - 721 (13.35/set)
- Opponent Hitting Percentage - 6th - .176
- Hitting Percentage - 7th - .246
- Aces - 7th - 78 (1.44/set)
Individual
- Quincey Gary
- Digs - 1st - 255 (4.72/set)
- Cidavia Hall
- Hitting Percentage - 1st - .437
- Hayley McSparin
- Blocks - 5th - 63 (1.17/set)
- Meghan Neelon
- Aces - 9th - 18 (0.33/set)
- Assists - 9th - 358 (6.63/set)
- Ginger Perinar
- Kills - 9th - 183 (3.39/set)
- Mahalia Swink
- Aces - 6th - 19 (0.35/set)
GARY CONTINUES TO CLIMB CAREER DIGS LIST AT UA
- With 15 digs Sunday against Auburn, senior libero Quincey Gary moved to fifth on Alabama's career digs list with 1,206 career digs
- Gary is now 58 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 (5th - 1,195) and Kryssi Daniels (7th - 1,145).
- The Alexandria, Ind., native also ranks eighth in career digs-per-set at 3.04. 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
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 80-33 (.708) record on its home court, including a 7-1 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 week, Alabama plays a pair of road matches, beginning Wednesday, Oct. 3 at Tennessee live on the SEC Network at 7 p.m. CT. The Tide then heads to Auburn for a 1:30 p.m. CT match on Sunday, Oct. 7.
