Alabama
Tennessee
Volleyball Travels to Tennessee Wednesday for SEC Network Showdown
10/2/2018 8:46:00 AM | Volleyball
THIS WEEK: ALABAMA (13-4, 1-3 SEC) AT TENNESSEE (12-4, 3-1 SEC)
- Wednesday, Oct. 3 – 7 p.m. CT
- Knoxville, Tenn. – Thompson-Boling Arena
- TV: SEC Network
- Play-by-play: Courtney Lyle
- Analyst: Jenny Hazelwood
SCOUTING ALABAMA
- Alabama is 13-4 overall and 1-3 in conference play after dropping a pair of three-set matches last weekend to South Carolina and Florida.
- Among SEC teams, Alabama's defense leads the league in digs (922, 15.37/set) and is third in blocks (148, 2.47/set). Individually, senior Quincey Gary is second in the league with 271 digs (4.52/set) while junior Hayley McSparin and senior Cidavia Hall are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, in blocks at 65 (1.08/set) and 64 (1.07/set).
- Hall and Gary's numbers this season put them among the single-season leaders in program history, with Hall's .385 hitting percentage currently at second all-time and Gary's 4.52 digs-per-set at third.
- Alabama makes its season debut on the SEC Network Wednesday against Tennessee. Since the network's launch in 2014, the Tide is 17-10 in featured matches.
- Head Coach Ed Allen is in his eighth season at the helm of the program in 2018, owning a 147-96 (.605) record at UA and a 641-279 (.697) overall mark as a head coach
ALL-TIME VS. TENNESSEE
- Overall: 53rd Meeting (Tennessee leads 34-18)
- In Knoxville: 6-16 | In Tuscaloosa: 10-15 | At Neutral Sites: 2-3
- Current Streak: Alabama +2
- Last Meeting: Nov. 12, 2017 - Tuscaloosa, Ala. - W, 3-2
- Last Meeting in Knoxville: Oct. 8, 2017 - W, 3-2
- Series Notes:
- Alabama's 3-0 win in 2013 broke a 10-match losing streak to Tennessee and the Tide is 6-2 in the subsequent meetings against the Lady Vols.
- Both meetings last season saw Alabama overcome a 2-1 match deficit to defeat Tennessee in five sets. Prior to that, the two teams had not gone five sets since 2005.
- The last time Alabama won consecutive road matches against Tennessee was in 2006 and 2007.
LAST TIME OUT: ALABAMA RESILIENT IN THREE-SET LOSS TO FLORIDA
Alabama volleyball battled in a tough three-set loss to 11th-ranked Florida Sunday afternoon at Foster Auditorium, posting set scores of 20-25, 20-25 and 24-26.
The Crimson Tide played a close match against the Gators, with 28 tie scores and 11 lead changes in the match. Alabama made late pushes in each of the three sets, drawing within two in the second and tying it at 24-24 in the third, but Florida ultimately earned narrow victories to complete the sweep. Sophomore Doris Carter and freshman Erin Curl led the offense with eight kills each and sophomore Meghan Neelon was one dig shy of a double-double, finishing with nine along with 14 assists.
BALANCED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
- Through 17 matches, Alabama's .233 team hitting percentage ranks ninth 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 .385 would stand as the second-highest hitting percentage in program history, only trailing 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 (2.47) and eighth in digs-per-set (15.37). The blocks average is the highest under Ed Allen and the highest for any Tide team since 2006.
- Senior Quincey Gary is averaging 4.52 digs-per-set this season, which is third in UA history. This surpasses her previous best mark of 4.43 from last year, which ranks fourth.
GARY CONTINUES TO CLIMB CAREER DIGS LIST AT UA
- Senior libero Quincey Gary heads into this week's matches ranked fifth on Alabama's career digs list with 1,222 career digs
- Gary is now 42 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 (6th - 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 in digs-per-set for their career was Amy Pauly (2005-08) at 3.91
ALABAMA IN THE SEC RANKINGS (TOP 10)
Team
- Digs - 1st - 922 (15.37/set)
- Blocks - 3rd - 148 (2.47/set)
- Assists - T5th - 740 (12.33/set)
- Opponent Hitting Percentage - 6th - .179
- Aces - 6th - 82 (1.37/set)
- Kills - 8th - 784 (13.07/set)
- Hitting Percentage - 9th - .233
Individual
- Quincey Gary
- Digs - 2nd - 271 (4.52/set)
- Cidavia Hall
- Hitting Percentage - 3rd - .385
- Blocks - 6th - 64 (1.07/set)
- Hayley McSparin
- Blocks - 5th - 65 (1.08/set)
- Ginger Perinar
- Kills - T9th - 196 (3.27/set)
- Mahalia Swink
- Aces - 6th - 20 (0.34/set)
ALABAMA VOLLEYBALL TO APPEAR THREE MORE TIMES ON ESPN FAMILY OF NETWORKS
Wednesday's match is the second of four national television appearances slated on the Crimson Tide's 2018 schedule. Alabama previously appeared on ESPNU against Missouri on Sept. 19.
- Wednesday, Oct. 3 at Tennessee - 7 p.m. CT - SEC Network
- Wednesday, Oct. 17 vs. Mississippi State - 6 p.m. CT - ESPNU
- Sunday, Oct. 28 vs. Ole Miss - 5 p.m. CT - ESPNU
ALABAMA VOLLEYBALL ON THE SEC NETWORK
Since the launch of the SEC Network during the 2014 season, Alabama has been featured in 27 matches, winning 17 of them with a 12-5 mark at home and 5-5 mark on the road.
- Sept. 24, 2014 at Georgia: W, 3-1
- Oct. 12, 2014 vs. South Carolina: W, 3-1
- Oct. 26, 2014 vs. Arkansas: W, 3-1
- Nov. 9, 2014 at South Carolina: W, 3-2
- Nov. 16, 2014 vs. Georgia: W, 3-0
- Sept. 23, 2015 vs. Mississippi State: W, 3-1
- Oct. 11, 2015 vs. Missouri: W, 3-2
- Oct. 18, 2015 at LSU: W, 3-2
- Oct. 25, 2015 vs. Georgia: W, 3-0
- Oct. 28, 2015 at Missouri: L, 2-3
- Nov. 1, 2015 at Arkansas: W, 3-2
- Nov. 8, 2015 vs. South Carolina: W, 3-1
- Nov. 15, 2015 vs. Auburn: W, 3-0
- Nov. 25, 2015 vs. Ole Miss: L, 1-3
- Sept. 23, 2016 vs. Texas A&M: W, 3-2
- Sept. 25, 2016 vs. Florida: L, 0-3
- Oct. 2, 2016 at Mississippi State: L, 2-3
- Oct. 28, 2016 vs. Tennessee: L, 0-3
- Nov. 6, 2016 vs. Arkansas: W, 3-1
- Nov. 13, 2016 at Florida: L, 0-3
- Sept. 22, 2017 at Georgia: L, 0-3
- Sept. 27, 2017 vs. Arkansas: W, 3-2
- Oct. 22, 2017 vs. South Carolina: W, 3-2
- Oct. 27, 2017 at Mississippi State: W, 3-0
- Nov. 1, 2017 at Auburn: L, 2-3
- Nov. 5, 2017 vs. Georgia: L, 0-3
- Nov. 8, 2017 vs. Kentucky: L, 1-3
UP NEXT
???????Alabama hits the road again this weekend, traveling to the Plains to face in-state rival Auburn Sunday, Oct. 7 at 1:30 p.m. CT. The Tide won the first meeting between the teams earlier this season in Tuscaloosa, 3-1.
