Following its win against the Missouri Tigers on Sunday, women’s volleyball finished its regular season with a 13-12 record, including a 5-10 record in the SEC.
The win was enough to place the Crimson Tide as the No. 12 seed in the SEC Tournament, where it will take on No. 13 South Carolina, a team the Crimson Tide swept 3-0 on Oct. 19.
The Gamecocks have built some momentum in their recent games. After starting the season off 1-8 in SEC play, they finished the season off 3-3, including a shocking 3-1 win against Florida, which was ranked No. 25 in the nation.
Despite the inconsistencies shown by the Gamecocks this season, Alabama needs to take every opponent seriously in the tournament.
“I think we just have to put in the hard work and practice this week,” Victoria Barrett said. “Make sure we remain consistent, find some consistency, and translate everything from the practice to the game.”
Alabama dominated South Carolina defensively in its previous matchup. The Crimson Tide had 12 blocks: its highest in an SEC game and third highest this season. Kaleigh Palmer and Ashby Daniel each had a career high of seven blocks each, which were career highs for both. Trinity Stranger led the way with 14 digs.
Yet coming off of back-to-back SEC wins, Alabama feels as though it will be prepared for the challenge.
“It feels good coming off of a two win weekend,” Palmer said. “It’s giving us a lot of confidence for the SEC Tournament.”
It was the first time since Feb. 26-27, 2021, that the Crimson Tide won back-to-back conference games. The five wins are also the most number of SEC wins in a season for head coach Rashinda Reed, who took over as head coach for the start of the 2022 season.
Yet for the first time in 20 years, Alabama is playing in an SEC Tournament game and is looking to make some noise.
“We just got to keep playing like this,” Reed said. “Keep believing in ourselves, and just putting it all out there.”
Alabama will play in Round 1 of the SEC Tournament on Friday at 1 p.m. CT. Viewers can stream on ESPN+.
