Alabama
1-0,0-0SEC
Samford
0-1,0-0SoCon
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samford | 23 | 20 | 25 | 20 | 1 |
| Alabama | 25 | 25 | 22 | 25 | 3 |
Volleyball Opens 2026 Season with 3-1 Win over Samford Friday in Tuscaloosa
8/28/2026 10:24:00 PM | Volleyball
The Crimson Tide is back in action Saturday against UC Riverside at 5 p.m. CT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama volleyball opened its 2026 season Friday night at Foster Auditorium with a 3-1 win over Samford.
The Crimson Tide won the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-20, before the Bulldogs avoided the sweep with a 25-22 decision in the third. Alabama trailed 15-14 at the media timeout in the fourth before storming out of the break with six unanswered to pull ahead 20-15 and force a Samford timeout. The Bulldog would draw within three late in the set at 23-20 but a kill from Tea Simic made it match point and a block from Lily Gervase and Kaleigh Palmer on the next rally ended it as the 25-20 set victory sealed the match for the Tide.
Palmer and Mya Allen led the team with 11 kills each, with Palmer adding a team-leading three blocks and a career-best eight digs. Hannah Parant paced the offense with 43 assists while Dionii Fraga dug 21 balls out of the back row.
From Head Coach Rashinda Reed
"We were relentless tonight. I mean, it wasn't pretty and we definitely have some things that we need to work on, and the ladies understand that, but I think that there's some fight in this team. I think they showed that in the fourth set. They could have just given up when [Samford] just kept pushing back with everything they had. I love the fact that we just continued to put the pressure on them, especially Lily Gervase from the service line."
Highlights
- Alabama improves to 23-1 all-time vs. Samford, including a 13-0 mark in Tuscaloosa
- Kaleigh Palmer led the team with 11 kills and three blocks, while also adding a career-best eight digs
- Mya Allen tied Palmer for the team lead in kills (11) in her Crimson Tide debut after transferring in this season from Saint Mary's
- Transfer Dionii Fraga (Oklahoma) and freshman Tea Simic also made their Alabama debuts in Friday's opener
Stat Leaders
- Kills: Kaleigh Palmer, Mya Allen - 11
- Assists: Hannah Parant - 43
- Digs: Dionii Fraga - 21
- Blocks: Kaleigh Palmer - 3
- Aces: Lily Gervase - 2
Set-by-Set Scores
- Set 1: Alabama 25, Samford 23
- Set 2: Alabama 25, Samford 20
- Set 3: Samford 25, Alabama 22
- Set 4: Alabama 25, Samford 20
Up Next
- Saturday, Aug. 29 vs. UC Riverside – Tuscaloosa, Ala. – 5 p.m. CT
