With a dominant three-set sweep of Tennessee, the Alabama volleyball team reached a new milestone Saturday. In its final match of the regular season, the Crimson Tide picked up its 25th win, setting a new school record for wins in a season.
The team matched the previous record of 24 wins last season, which was originally set in 1995. Given the constant progression of the program, coach Ed Allen said he expects even better things to come for the team.
“We hope that we’re going to break that again in the coming couple of years,” he said. “It’s great to see us collect momentum and continue to push the program forward. Every year for four years we’ve been getting better, and there’s no reason not to expect it to even be better next year.”
The Crimson Tide opened the first set with a five-point scoring run, with three points coming from service aces by Krystal Rivers, and a kill by Rivers sealed the set for the Crimson Tide 25-11. Though set two was closer, Alabama ultimately took the set 25-20, holding a 2-0-match lead going into the intermission. The Crimson Tide took set three 25-14, securing the sweep.
Katherine White, honored along with fellow senior Caitlin Bernardin on Saturday, said she thought the team performed well as a whole, creating positive memories for her last match at Foster Auditorium.
“We did very well,” she said. “We got some players who don’t normally get to play in, and it was just a fun experience for our last game.”
On Sunday, the team gathered to watch the NCAA Tournament selection broadcast, a tradition that began last season. This year, the team will travel to Tallahassee, Florida, where it will compete against Samford in the first round of the tournament.
Allen said the team is excited to begin NCAA Tournament play and continue to build on what has been a record-setting season.
“I think it’s a matchup that should be competitive,” he said. “I’m just excited more than anything else for this team to get a chance to advance and continue to take steps forward.”
Junior captain Sierra Wilson said learning of the team’s tournament fate validated the team’s hard work throughout the season and the team’s excitement is still fresh.
“It’s always such a great feeling,” she said. “We got to experience the NCAA selection show last year as well, but it’s still exciting, it’s still fresh, and there’s still a level of joy when you get to see how far you’ve come and the fact that you get the opportunity to keep going.”
