The Alabama women’s volleyball team looks to capitalize on last Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over Alabama A&M as it travels to San Marcos, Texas, for the CenturyLink Premier tournament today and Saturday.
It is a homecoming of sorts for several Crimson Tide players who call Texas home, and the team commits itself to continued excellence on the court. Native Texan and Alabama’s senior right side hitter Alyssa Meuth notes the special opportunity for herself and her teammates to entertain hometown fans.
“We haven’t been able to travel to Texas in my four years here, so this is a great opportunity,” Meuth said. “We have six girls on our team from Texas, so we may end up having more fans than our opponents.”
Head coach Judy Green, a fixture on the sidelines for the last 15 seasons, has been especially focused in preparation these past few days.
“Coming off a home tournament win over A&M, we want to continue our high level of intensity,” Green said. “I told the girls to focus on the fundamentals that we’ve practiced these last two days.”
Sophomore defensive specialist Kelsey Anderson commented, “Coach has stressed to us two things in particular: to be consistent and to lessen our errors. We want the other team to play our game, as opposed to us playing their game.”
Meuth agrees. “Coach Green has told us to attack on offense aggressively, and focus on our defensive intensity,” she said. “We have awesome defense in the back row and she wants us to maintain our energy throughout the match.”
The Tide opens tournament play today against North Texas at 10 a.m. and plays their second match of the day opposite Tennessee-Martin at 5 p.m. The team concludes tournament play Saturday at 2 p.m. against Texas State. All three teams will present challenges to the Alabama players.
“Our opponents are going to play fast and aggressive, so we have to make sure that we maintain our pace of play,” Meuth said. “We have to focus on playing at our highest level, how we have been practicing and we will be successful.”
Both Meuth and Anderson stressed the importance of teamwork in order to be successful for this weekend’s tournament.
“We are hoping as a team to get some wins,” said Anderson. “This past year we have steadily improved each day. We have tried to fix any and all errors from our game against A&M and are working to continue to play as a team.”
Meuth said, “As a senior, I like to lead by example. This year, I’m trying to stay positive and keep everyone encouraged, especially with our freshmen. It’s important as a senior to help the team blend together as much as possible. Our freshmen have especially stepped up on and off the court.”
The Crimson Tide is hopeful that this weekend’s homecoming is a successful one before opening Southeastern Conference play against Mississippi on Sept. 17.
