TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama volleyball closed out its opening weekend at the Crimson Tide Invitational Saturday afternoon, defeating UAB in three sets by scores of 25-12, 25-13 and 25-20.

Alabama (3-0) posted a pair of big double-digit set wins over UAB (1-2) to vault to an early 2-0 match lead. The Tide pulled ahead 7-3 early in set three and, following a Blazer timeout, the visitors started to close the gap, drawing as close as two points. Later with Alabama leading 20-14, UAB rattled off four unanswered to again draw within two and force a Tide timeout. Alabama spent its final timeout with its lead trimmed to one point at 21-20 but the Tide came out strong after the break, rattling off four points in a row to close out the set and the match.

FROM HEAD COACH RASHINDA REED

“I was really proud of these ladies this weekend. We were working through a lot of different lineups in practice and this is the first time we’ve really had a consistent group of people working together on the court. We knew there would be some bumps in the road because it’s preseason but I think they did a good job of working and playing together. Our opponents this weekend all challenged us in different ways and exposed some things we need to work on before we face some more challenging teams next weekend in Chattanooga.”

NOTES

• Alabama posted its highest team hitting percentage of the weekend, hitting .410 with 42 kills and eight errors on 83 attacks
• With nine aces in Saturday’s win over UAB, the Tide had at least nine aces in all three matches across opening weekend
• Florida State transfer Maddie Snider led Alabama with 13 kills and four blocks, hitting .462

STAT LEADERS

SET-BY-SET

• Set 1: Alabama 25, UAB 12
• Set 2: Alabama 25, UAB 13
• Set 3: Alabama 25, UAB 20

UP NEXT: CHATTANOOGA CLASSIC (CHATTANOOGA, TENN.)

• Friday, Sept. 5 at Chattanooga – 5 p.m. CT
• Saturday, Sept. 6 vs. Cincinnati – 2 p.m. CT