Alabama Volleyball Hosts Mississippi State Wednesday on ESPNU

Wednesday, October 9

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

6 p.m. CT

Alabama

Mississippi State

Photo by: Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

10/8/2019 2:27:00 PM | Volleyball

THIS WEEK: ALABAMA (10-5, 2-2 SEC) VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE (11-5, 0-4 SEC)

Alabama is 10-5 overall and 2-2 in Southeastern Conference play after a road loss Sunday against Georgia
The Crimson Tide is just past the halfway mark of the regular season, with 15 matches played and 14 remaining
Three of Alabama's next five matches will be away from home, but the Tide will then close out the regular season with six of the final nine matches in Foster Auditorium
Six of the Alabama's 10 victories this season have been sweeps
Freshman Alyiah Wells is ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in blocks (2nd - 64) and hitting percentage (7th - .366) while junior Kaylee Thomas is fourth in digs (227)
The Crimson Tide returns 11 players from last season's team, including starters Doris Carter, Meghan Neelon, Kaylee Thomas, Ginger Perinar and Hayley McSparin
Eight newcomers join the roster, including six freshmen and two graduate transfers

Alabama fought back late in the first set against Georgia but ultimately fell, 25-22, before seeing an eight-point lead in the second erased to eventually drop a 25-23 decision
The Bulldogs built a double-digit lead in the third before the Crimson Tide fought back within a point late, but eventually fell by two, 25-23
Senior Ginger Perinar led the Tide with 10 kills, adding an ace and a block assist for 11.5 points
Freshman Emily Janek finished with 27 of the team's 34 assists and junior Kaylee Thomas again led the back-row defense with 17 digs

Alabama's four-match win streak over Mississippi State is the Tide's second-longest active win streak against any SEC team
Alabama has only lost one of the last 10 meetings with MSU, a five-set road loss in 2016
The Tide's 14-match win streak against the Bulldogs from 1999-2006 is its second-longest against any SEC team
Wednesday's match is the only meeting between the teams this season

Win Streaks vs. SEC teams

Team (Overall)

Team (SEC Matches)

Individual (Overall)

Individual (SEC Matches)

Senior Hayley McSparin is already among the top 10 at Alabama in career attack percentage (7th - .304) and solo blocks (8th - 63), just three shy of moving up to 7th in the latter
McSparin is currently six total blocks and one block assists shy of moving into the top 10 in those respective categories
With 866 career digs, junior Kaylee Thomas is No. 20 all-time at UA and is 20 shy of moving up to 19th
Thomas' 2.98 digs-per-set average ranks 10th