Alabama beat Southern Miss in four sets (25-18, 27-25, 25-27, 25-22) to go undefeated in the opening weekend of its first season under head coach Rashinda Reed. 

“We always love dubs,” Reed said. “We love winning, but it’s really all about the work we’ve been doing in the preseason and seeing it transfer onto the court.” 

While Alabama (3-0) continued aggressively attacking the net like they’ve done all weekend, the Southern Miss (2-1) attackers responded with an offense dominated by light taps over the net. Despite their well-placed balls, the Crimson Tide took the first set 25-18. 

In the second set, the light tips and more aggressive kills from Southern Miss found gaps in the Alabama defense. However, after being down 11-3, Alabama tapped some of their own over the net, and were able to keep up with the Golden Eagles.  

“We have a rule of three,” Reed said. “If you see those things happening three times in a row, we have to make a change. With that change, we were able to get a lot of balls and convert and be offensively successful.” 

A back-and-forth match eventually led to a 25-25 tie. Middle blocker Chaise Campbell took advantage of a Southern Miss mistake and gave the Crimson Tide a 26-25 advantage. Outside hitter Kendyl Reaugh sealed the deal with a well-placed kill, winning Alabama the second set, 27-25.  

The Crimson Tide were unable to carry that momentum into the beginning of the third set. Southern Miss led until a dominant series of serves, including three aces, from Reaugh brought the score to 12-10, Alabama. The Golden Eagles eventually retook the lead and won the set 27-25.  

The lead went back and forth throughout the fourth set until Abby Marjama’s serving took the Crimson Tide on a scoring run, bringing the score to 17-12 Alabama. The score remained close until Campbell’s serves, including two aces, gave the Crimson Tide the energy it needed to take the set 25-22, winning the match 3-1.  

“Obviously there’s a lot of nerves going into it [the final serve],” Campbell said. “But it’s more about excitement than being nervous so I just try to take it slow, take a breath and then give the best serve that I can.” 

Southern Miss outside hitter Mia Wesley led the Golden Eagles with 21 kills, but the Crimson Tide defense, led by libero Victoria Schmer’s 18 digs, had no problem handling them. Alabama also had an incredible serving game, with 14 service aces to their opponents’ three. Campbell had five service aces of her own.  

The Crimson Tide also defeated McNeese State University and the University of Texas at San Antonio at the Crimson Tide Invitational. Alabama will take their undefeated record with them to Houston next weekend as they compete in the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup.

Questions or comments? Email Austin Hannon (Sports Editor) at [email protected]