Friday was a clean sweep for Alabama volleyball as opened its regular season at the University of Buffalo Invite in Buffalo, New York. 

The Crimson Tide swept both the Marist Red Foxes and the tournament host Buffalo Bulls, the first time the team has opened a season with back-to-back sweeps since 1998. 

“Preseason tournaments are opportunities to form your identity,” head coach Lindsey Devine said in a release. “Today, we were a team that showed resiliency. We had to come back multiple times today in a tough road environment. It’s not easy when you dig yourself a hole but I’m proud of the way we played in the present, stayed together and played as a team.”

In its first match, Alabama won each set by an increasing margin over Marist by scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-17. With nine team blocks and a 35-24 advantage in digs, Alabama’s strong defense continued to crack down on the Marist offense. 

Senior outside hitter Ginger Perinar led the attack with nine kills, hitting .333, with freshman middle blocker Alyiah Wells posting a .375 clip along with a team-leading five blocks. Junior setter Meghan Neelon tallied 32 of the team’s 39 assists and junior libero Kaylee Thomas anchored the back-row defense with 13 assists.

“Over the course of the match, we continually improved, and by set three we hit our stride,” Devine said. “We were executing the things we talked about in practice. The carryover of the serve game from practice was exactly what we needed to create some disruption for the opponent and them not being able to stay in system.”

After the early-morning win against Marist, Alabama earned another three-set victory, this time against Buffalo. 

The Crimson Tide won the opening set, 25-20. After overcoming an early deficit in the second, it won six straight points and went on to win the set 25-23. Battling a similar deficit early in the third, the Crimson Tide and the Bulls went back and forth until Alabama tied the set 15-15 before pulling ahead to win, 25-22, and completing the sweep. 

Junior Doris Carter led the offense, tallying nine kills and finishing with a .318 hitting percentage. Wells and Perinar were close behind with seven kills each.

Alabama (2-0) will conclude the tournament against the Colgate Raiders on Saturday 9 a.m. CT.