Alabama Volleyball Opens Three-Match Home Stand Sunday Against Ole Miss

Sunday, November 3

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

2 p.m. CT

Alabama

Ole Miss

Photo by: Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics/ Jake Arthur

Alabama Volleyball Opens Three-Match Home Stand Sunday Against Ole Miss

11/1/2019 3:36:00 PM | Volleyball

Match Notes Live Stats Live Video

The Crimson Tide returns to Foster Auditorium to face the Rebels

THIS WEEKEND: ALABAMA (11-9, 3-6 SEC) VS. OLE MISS (14-6, 6-3 SEC)

Sunday, Nov. 3 – 2 p.m. CT
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Foster Auditorium

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama is 11-9 overall and 3-6 in Southeastern Conference play with nine matches remaining in its regular season slate
Sunday's match against Ole Miss begins a three-match home stand for the Tide, with six of the final nine matches of the season taking place at Foster Auditorium
Junior Kaylee Thomas is ranked third in the league in digs (301, 4.24/set) while freshman Alyiah Wells is sixth in blocks (72, 1.06/set)
Junior Doris Carter and freshman Emily Janek lead the team with three double-doubles each, with all three of Janek's coming in SEC play
The Crimson Tide returns 11 players from last season's team, including starters Doris Carter, Meghan Neelon, Kaylee Thomas, Ginger Perinar and Hayley McSparin
Along with first-year head coach Lindsey Devine, eight newcomers join the roster including six freshmen and two graduate transfers

ALL-TIME VS. OLE MISS

Overall: 49th Meeting (Alabama leads 44-26)
In Tuscaloosa: 23-9 | In Oxford: 11-16 | At Neutral Sites: 10-1
Current Streak: Ole Miss +3
Last Meeting: Nov. 18, 2018 - L, 1-3 - Oxford, Miss.
Last Meeting in Tuscaloosa: Oct. 28, 2018 - L, 1-3

LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA FALLS TO FLORIDA AND SOUTH CAROLINA

Alabama dropped a pair of 3-0 decisions last weekend on the road, falling to Florida on Friday and South Carolina on Sunday
The Tide held an early lead in set one against the Gators and pushed hard in the eventual 25-18 loss, but Florida won the next two sets by identical 25-16 scores to complete the sweep
Junior Doris Carter led the team with 14 kills, hitting .333 for the match as did graduate transfer Eva Borrowdale and senior Hayley McSparin, who followed behind with eight and seven kills, respectively
Alabama dropped the first two sets to South Carolina, 25-15 and 25-14, before making a late push in the third set to try and extend the match but despite drawing within a point three times down the stretch, the Crimson Tide did not retake the lead as the Gamecocks held on to win, 25-19, and complete the sweep
Carter led the team in kills for the second-straight match, finishing with 10 along with three block assists

ALABAMA IN THE SEC RANKINGS (TOP EIGHT)

Team (Overall)

7th - Digs (1012, 14.06/set)
8th - Blocks (163, 2.26/set)

Team (SEC Matches)

5th - Digs (485, 14.70/set)
6th - Blocks (108, 2.21/set)

Individual (Overall)

3rd - Digs - Kaylee Thomas (301, 4.24/set)
6th - Blocks - Alyiah Wells (72, 1.06/set)

Individual (SEC Matches)

5th - Digs - Kaylee Thomas (146, 4.42/set)

MCSPARIN MARCHES TOWARDS 1,000 CAREER KILLS

Senior Hayley McSparin surpassed the 900-career-kills mark in the Oct. 18 match against LSU and currently sits at 927
She is the 18th player in program history to break the 900 kills mark, the first since Kat Hutson (2014-16)
With nine matches remaining on the schedule, an average of 8.11 kills per match would push her past the 1,000 kills mark

MOVING UP THE UA CAREER RECORDS

Senior Hayley McSparin is among the top 10 at Alabama in career attack percentage (7th - .304), total blocks (10th - 324), solo blocks (8th - 64) and block assists (9th - 260)
She is just the fifth player in program history to rank in the top 10 in each of those categories
With 940 career digs, junior Kaylee Thomas is No. 15 all-time at UA and is just nine away from 14th-place Erin Price (2000-03)
Thomas' 3.05 digs-per-set average ranks ninth

FINDING A HOME AT FOSTER

Since moving back into a renovated Foster Auditorium in 2011, Alabama has compiled an 85-41 (.675) record on its home court
The last seven seasons have seen double-digit win totals, including a program-best 12 in 2016
Attendance has surged since the Tide's move back to Foster Auditorium as well, welcoming over 12,000 fans in five of the last seven seasons after surpassing 10,000 just once prior to 2011

UP NEXT

Alabama continues its home stand with a pair of matches at Foster Auditorium next weekend. The Tide faces 24th-ranked Missouri (14-5, 6-3 SEC) on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. CT and Tennessee (9-11, 3-7 SEC) on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. CT.