Crimson Tide fans are everywhere. Just ask the women’s volleyball team.
This past weekend, the team traveled to San Marcos, Texas, to participate in the CenturyLink Premier Tournament. As Alabama defeated North Texas in the first round, Tennessee-Martin in the second and Texas State in the third, there were Tide fans cheering with them as the Tide won the tournament title.
That’s because six of the 12 Tide players who competed are from Texas. Freshman Shelbi Goode, from Georgetown, Texas, even had family members in the crowd who made their own T-shirts.
Although the Tide had a large number of supporters in the crowd, it was not enough to drown out the noise of the Texas State fans on their home court in Alabama’s final game of the tournament.
“I was very impressed with their student following unit,” said head coach Judy Green. “It could certainly significantly make a difference in a match for the home team. They had these metal signs that said ‘The Loud Crowd’ and megaphones in the stands and our bench was right next to them. It was good for us to be in that environment because when we go to Ole Miss this Friday, it’s going to be 10 times worse.”
The Tide was able to find its game in spite of the crowd noise and cruised to a 25-16 victory in its opening set against Texas State. But the next set was kept closer and the Tide had to frequently make adjustments to pull out their 25-20 victory in the second set.
“We usually get off to a great start in the first set, going out on an opponents’ home court and being consistent,” Green said. “But then in the second set, we have a tendency to kind of let go a little bit and not be quite as intense.”
Despite the sentiments, when looking over the final stats the Tide led in every major category during the final match of the tournament. The Tide had 37 assists to Texas State’s 30 and had nine more kills (43-34) in the match. Alabama also scored on five service aces, while Texas State had two.
Of the 43 Tide kills recorded, senior Alyssa Mueth was responsible for 10 of them. Meuth received MVP honors at the conclusion of the tournament. Also instrumental in the Tide’s victory was freshman Shelbi Goode, who had 12 kills in the final match and was named to the All-Tournament team.
“This is the first year the freshmen really have a competitive mindset,” said Meuth.
This competitive mindset can certainly be felt throughout the team. Green said the team is playing with a “chip on their shoulder” and is out to better its record from last season.
“This year we have a lot to prove after the season we had a year ago,” said Green.
Just two weeks into the season, the Tide (8-2) has matched its win total from last year, when Alabama finished the season 8-22. The Tide’s eight victories recorded so far all are the result of out of conference play. This Friday, the Tide will face its first Southeastern Conference opponent at Ole Miss. The Rebels (6-3) will be playing in their first SEC match of the season as well.
The Tide has started off the season strong, and Green doesn’t seem too worried about jumping into SEC play.
“We don’t talk about the other team,” Green said. “We talk about the things we need to do to get better. We control our own destiny.”
