The Alabama volleyball team is scheduled to host Bama Bash this weekend, the only home tournament the volleyball team will play this year.

Alabama will face the University of Toledo and Furman University Friday at noon and 7 p.m., respectively. The Crimson Tide will also play the University of Alabama at Birmingham Saturday at 1 p.m.

Last year, the Tide lost in the home tournament, but head coach Judy Green said the team is optimistic about the upcoming weekend.

“This year, the players have talked a lot about last year’s loss,” Green said.

Senior Alyssa Meuth said, “One of the team’s main goals is to defend home court. Bama Bash will be our first chance to prove we can do that.”

However, an overall win won’t be easy.

“There are some really good teams coming into this tournament. From top to bottom, this tournament will be very competitive,” Green said.

The Tide is currently 1-2. Green said that winning this tournament is important. However, she is trying to focus on Alabama’s side of the net. Green is confident that if the Tide can come together as a team, the wins will come.

This week the team focused on several improvements to be better prepared for this week’s tournament.

“We have really worked on having defensive intensity and controlling the pace of the game,” Meuth said. “We also need to be relentless in the back rows.”

“We worked on our team blocking and on developing our middle hitter transitions. We have watched some film on our opponent, but most importantly we are trying to focus on our side of the net,” Green said. “As long as we control the ball and the tempo of the match, then we will have an opportunity to be successful.”

The team is excited for the tournament and ready to get their season started.

“The players are going to be very driven to win the tournament this year,” Green said. “We are very capable of being successful on any given night, and we are very excited to be playing at home and in front of the best fans in the country”