Alabama continued its winning ways, moving to 6-2 after sweeping Tennessee State and Hofstra on Friday.
Coach Ed Allen came away impressed with the Alabama volleyball team’s performance on Friday night, particularly the win over Hofstra. He thought his young team grew up on Friday at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash.
“I thought they played well in both matches,” Allen said. “This match was the best of the season, in terms of a really good Hofstra team that is outside driven, with three kids that average well over three kills a set. I thought we did a great job of defending them, we dug a ton of balls.”
Christine Jarman was one of the freshman Allen pinpointed as having a big day for Alabama. Jarman collected a double-double in the match against Hofstra, with 11 kills and 13 digs.
“It was awesome,” Jarman said. “I thought the team really came together and really came out with a good competitive mentality. Last weekend, we had a little rough spot and I think we really responded to that well and played well as a team, played well for each other.”
She finished the day with 18 kills and 25 digs. As a freshman, she is playing in six rotations and making a big impact.
For the first time in her young career, Jarman played in front of the Crimson Tide fan base, as the Crimson Tide had its home debut.
“It means so much, I mean coming here and playing in front of all these fans we have is amazing and we want to put on the best show, our best effort for them,” Jarman said. “We represent them, so we want to do the best we can.”
The Crimson Tide swept Hofstra, but Jarman does not want the scoreboard to fool people, as Hofstra fought all night and competed well with Alabama.
Alabama won the first set 27-25, coming from behind when Hofstra held a set point with a 24-22 lead.
“They were serving bullets, they were swinging really hard, they were digging a ton of balls,” Jarman said. “It was a good competitive match and I think the score doesn’t reflect how much fun and how much competition we had in that match.”
Alabama won the final two sets 25-17 and 25-19, but both Allen and Jarman cautioned that the score doesn’t do justice for the fight Hofstra put up.
Reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week Quincey Gary collected 39 more digs in the two matches, with 16 coming in the opening match against Tennessee State.
Allen has been impressed with the first month of the season Gary has put together and sees more success for her in the future.
Alabama defeated Tennessee State easily in the first set, 25-14. However, TSU fought back and competed better in 25-20 and 25-20 set losses to close the opening match.
Jarman believes Friday’s performance is going to set the bar for Alabama the rest of the season and boost its confidence.
“No matter what happens in the past, as long as we can move on and use it as motivation, I think it will really help us in the future,” Jarman said.
Alabama concludes the Bama Bash with a match against Furman on Saturday.
