After a rough weekend losing two Southeastern Conference games at home, the Alabama volleyball team is ready to bounce back.
Despite the loss of the match, sophomore outside hitter Kayla Fitterer had a career-high, 21 kills. The Crimson Tide now enters this weekend’s two road matches with an 8-5 overall record and 0-3 in SEC play.
“We had too many long point runs,” said head coach Judy Green. “We gave up in the middle of the set that we lost and usually that happens between points 11 and 16. We need to work on earning points and when we are serving, playing defense. This past weekend was actually the first time I saw us lose points in a row when we were playing defense.”
Before Alabama’s 3-1 loss to Arkansas on Sunday, the Tide played No. 17 LSU in The CAVE with more than 1,000 Alabama fans watching. In the three sets against the undefeated Tigers, the Tide played a hard fought battle, losing 25-20, 25-22, 25-22.
Although Alabama has struggled defensively against SEC teams, the Tide still is able to recognize where it needs to improve and apply this to its next few matches.
“It’s always tough to win on the road,” said junior setter Stephanie Riley. “We’ve suffered a couple of really hard losses lately, so we’re basically trying to change our whole attitude in the gym. We’re really hungry right now. We’re really chomping at the bit to pull off a big win on the road in the SEC.”
Alabama’s two SEC road games this weekend will require a lot of traveling for the Tide as it goes up against Georgia and Auburn. Alabama and the Bulldogs will face off tonight, in Athens, Ga. Then the Tide will meet the Tigers in Auburn on Sunday.
“The mentality has to come from within the players,” Green said. “The players have to come and take ownership. They need to want to be the type of team that is going to play with a chip on their shoulders.”
Even though Alabama hasn’t won against an SEC team this season, the Tide is using its past struggles to overcome the adversity of playing two straight road matches against conference opponents.
“The main goal’s always to come home with a win,” Riley said. “The SEC is up for grabs right now. Lots of teams are upsetting. We’re real excited. We’re still trying to have some hope about this season, even though we’ve dropped three SEC matches already. Our main goal now is to stay positive and turn this season around.”
While Alabama hasn’t shown its confidence on the court this season, the Tide isn’t willing to give up. Despite the fact that Alabama needs to improve on defense before the next game, the players have found a lot of positive things about themselves that they think will give them an edge.
“We’re stacked with great talent,” Riley said. “We have the team chemistry to do it. This year we can make it happen and we just need to believe that. Our biggest advantage is definitely our team chemistry. We all get along great and we’re all there for one another on and off the court. I think it really shows when we play.”
Alabama’s game against Georgia will take place tonight at 6 p.m. in Athens, while the next match will start Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Auburn.
