Friday, September 6
Richmond, Va.
10 a.m. CT
Alabama
vs
Navy
Photo by: Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics/ Jake Arthur
Volleyball Heads to Virginia for Three Matches at VCU Invitational
9/5/2019 7:56:00 AM | Volleyball
This Week: VCU Invitational
Richmond, Va. – Siegel Center
Friday, Sept. 6
- vs. Navy (2-1) – 10 a.m. CT
- at VCU (1-2) – 5 p.m. CT
Saturday, Sept. 7
- vs. NC State (2-0) – 1 p.m. CT
Scouting Alabama (3-0)
- Alabama started its season with three wins at the UB Invite, sweeping Marist and Buffalo before winning a five-set match in the finale against Colgate
- The two sweeps mark the first time since 1998 that the Crimson Tide has started the season with consecutive three-set victories
- After one weekend of play, Alabama is tied atop the SEC standings at 3-0 with Arkansas, LSU and Mississippi State
- 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
All-Time vs. The Opponents
Navy
- Third Meeting (UA 2-0)
- Last Meeting: Aug. 31, 2018 - W, 3-1
- H: 0-0 | A: 0-0 | N: 2-0
VCU
- Second Meeting (UA 1-0)
- Last Meeting: Sept. 5, 2008 - W, 3-0
- H: 0-0 | A: 0-0 | N: 1-0
NC State
- Third Meeting (NCST 2-0)
- Last Meeting: Sept. 20, 1997 - L, 2-3
- H: 0-0 | A: 0-2 | N: 0-0
Last Time Out: Alabama Goes 3-0 ini Buffalo
- Alabama 3, Marist 0: Alabama started its 2019 season off on a strong note, sweeping Marist in the opening match of the UB Invite Friday morning. Alabama won each set by an increasing margin over Marist by scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-17 respectively. Nine service aces from the Crimson Tide kept the Red Foxes off balance, and strong defense in the form of nine team blocks and a 35-24 advantage in digs stifled the Marist offense.
- Alabama 3, Buffalo 0: After sweeping Marist in its season opener Friday morning, Alabama returned to Alumni Arena and earned another three-set victory, this time over tournament host Buffalo. It marks the first time since 1998 that the Crimson Tide started the season with back-to-back sweeps. Alabama won the opening frame, 25-20, before overcoming a late Buffalo lead in the second with six-straight points to win, 25-23. The Tide overcame a similar deficit early in the third, tying it at 15-15 before pulling ahead to win, 25-22, and complete the sweep.
- Alabama 3, Colgate 2: Alabama capped its weekend at the UB Invite with a hard-fought five set win over Colgate Saturday morning. Alabama won the opening two sets, 25-21 and 25-19, before Colgate rallied to even the match with a 29-27 win in the third and 25-16 decision in the fourth. Holding a 7-6 lead in the fifth set, the Crimson Tide closed it out with an 8-3 run to win, 15-9.
All-Tournament Team
- Freshman Alyiah Wells was named the UB Invite MVP, starting all three matches for the Crimson Tide at middle blocker. She led the team with 35.5 points scored, earning 23 kills, a pair of service aces, five solo blocks and 11 block assists.
- Junior Kaylee Thomas earned All-Tournament honors after anchoring the back-row defense with a team-leading 49 digs across 11 sets. She saw the second-most targets on serve receive on the team, committing just one error over 40 attempts.
- Senior Ginger Perinar rounded out the Tide's All-Tournament honorees, starting all three matches and finishing with 19 kills, 11 digs and seven block assists
Debut Season for Head Coach Lindsey Devine
- Head Coach Lindsey Devine begins her debut season at the helm of the Crimson Tide in 2019
- She arrives at Alabama following a successful 16-year stint at ETSU as its all-time winningest coach
- Devine led the Buccaneers to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2017 and 2018, the latter as the Southern Conference's first ever at-large bid
- She was twice named SoCon Coach of the Year and had 28 student-athletes earn all-conference honors under her tenure, including three Player of the Year, three Libero of the Year and two Freshman of the Year award-winners
- Off the court, ETSU sported a 100-percent graduation rate under Devine and earned the AVCA Team Academic Award each of the last nine years, which requires at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade point average
Up Next
Alabama makes the quick trip to Birmingham, Ala., for three matches over three days, beginning Thursday, Sept. 12 against the host UAB Blazers at 7 p.m. CT. The slate continues Friday, Sept. 13 at 10 a.m. CT against Georgia State and concludes Saturday, Sept. 14 at 10 a.m. CT against Alcorn State.
Players Mentioned
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/ Volleyball
MB
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L/DS
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