Alabama Volleyball Falls To 6th-Ranked Florida
 |
| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The Crimson Tide falls to 12-3 overall, 1-1 SEC. Krystal Rivers led Alabama offensively with 17 kills, and Leah Lawrence posted eight kills on 14 swings with just one error finishing with a season-high .500 hitting percentage. Shannon Mikesky finished with 27 assists and 10 digs, scoring her seventh double-double of the season and her second of the weekend. Brittany Thomas four kills and two blocks, with Hayley McSparin adding three kills and one block. For the Florida Gators (12-1, 2-0 SEC), Alex Holston led the team with 14 kills while Rhamat Alhassan and Shainah Joseph each stuffed four blocks.
Alabama will continue SEC play on the road against Georgia (12-2, 0-1 SEC) on Friday, September 30th at 6 p.m. CT in Athens. The Crimson Tide will then make their way to Starkville, Mississippi to face Mississippi State (9-6, 1-0 SEC) on Sunday, October 2nd at 3 p.m. CT. Sunday's match against the Bulldogs will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.
-----------------------------------
Tide Women's Golf Finishes 2nd At Schooner Classic
 |
| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The Crimson Tide (275-282-284/841) finished 11-under par, 12 shots behind tournament champion Florida State. Clemson finished third at three-under par. Tournament host Oklahoma finished fourth at even par, while Kent State finished fifth at six-over par.
Sophomore Cheyenne Knight again led Bama, finishing sixth at six-under par (66-69-72/207). Next for the Tide was freshman Kristen Gillman who tied for eighth at three-under par (67-73-70/210). Junior Lakareber Abe (69-70-73/212) and sophomore Lauren Stephenson (73-70-69/212) tied for 12th at one-under par. Senior Mia Landegren tied for 35th at nine-over par (74-73-75/222).
Alabama will next play in the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitation October 14-16. The event is hosted by the University of North Carolina at Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Crimson Tide finished sixth in the tournament last season.
-----------------------------------
Crimson Tide Soccer Knocks Off No. 14 Texas A&M
_____
Wins 2-1 In Thrilling Sudden Death Overtime
Crimson Tide Soccer Knocks Off No. 14 Texas A&M
_____
Wins 2-1 In Thrilling Sudden Death Overtime
 |
| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
In thrilling fashion last night, the Alabama Crimson Tide soccer team defeated 16th-ranked Texas A&M 2-1 in suddent death overtime. The Tide upset the nationally-ranked Aggies on Sunday at the Alabama Soccer Complex to improve to an overall 7-3-1 record and
a 2-1-1 slate in Southeastern Conference play. Texas A&M drops to
7-4-1 and 2-2 in SEC play.
The winning goal came in the 96th minute of the contest. The shot was made by sophomore Abbie Boswell from about 15 yards out.
Alabama head soccer coach Wes Hart was excited with the win, saying, "It is awesome to see that the loss against Arkansas didn't faze us. We came in confident that we could win the game and by the end we wore
them (Texas A&M) down. I am so incredibly proud of this team and I
look forward to the next game against Mississippi State."
Last night's victory is the first over a ranked Southeastern Conference foe since 2014, and is the first time Alabama has defeated
Texas A&M since the 1995 season. This is also the first win
over a top-25 opponent by a Hart-coached team. It should be noted this was the third consecutive overtime contest for Bama soccer.
The Crimson Tide took 16 shots, eight shots on goal and four corner
kicks in the contest. Kat Stratton had eight saves, and her overall record improves to 7-3-1 and
2-1-1 in conference play.
Alabama will return to the field this Friday, September 30th when it visits the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville, Mississippi. Match time is 7 p.m. CT.
Team Statistics
| Game Stats | TAMU | UA |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 1 | 2 |
| Shots | 13 | 16 |
| Shots on Goal | 9 | 8 |
| Saves | 6 | 8 |
| Corners | 4 | 4 |
| Offsides | 1 | 2 |
| Fouls | 13 | 8 |
-----------------------------------
What Saban Said...At Today's Press Briefing
------------------------------------
Coaching Staff Names Nine Players Of The Week
--------------------------------------
What Saban Said...At Today's Press Briefing
 |
| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban met with the media this afternoon to talk about this past Saturday's game with Kent State as well as the upcoming contest with the Kentucky Wildcats.
In his opening statement, Saban said, "Well, just in review, we challenged the players to play a complete
game, and I thought we did a much better job of that in this last game.
Now that we are back in SEC play, I think it's time to build on that;
build on the momentum; play faster; be more crisp; practice better; play
with confidence; use the right technique and not talk about paying
attention to detail or being casual or finishing or any of those things.
If we want to be the team that we are capable of being, I think it's
important for everyone to buy into that and do that. The SEC is a tough
league and every game you play in this league is an important game as
this game will be against Kentucky.
"You all got the players of the week. The injury update is Damien Harris is still day-to-day. He probably won't do much today. I think ArDarius Stewart and Robert Foster will both still be listed as day-to-day and questionable for this game.
"We are looking forward to Homecoming and playing at home. Hopefully
we will have a great crowd that's enthusiastic about this game, and I
know our players definitely will be.
"Tony Brown and Johnny Dwight
are both eligible to play in this game. They have done all the things
they needed to do, so their suspensions are over, and we are very happy
to have them back.
"Kentucky has played their best in the last two games that they have
played. Mark Stoops has done a really good job of sort of finding out
who they are and how they want to play. They played really well in the
last two games. They have really good skill players on offense, good
running backs and good receivers. They have explosive guys that have put
up pretty impressive performances to this point. Their quarterback has
played well for them, even though he had to come in for the starter, and
he has done a nice job; they haven't really skipped a beat.
Defensively, they really played their best in their last game against
South Carolina. They did much better on third down and got off the
field. This is a physical team, and I think it's going to be really
important that we start fast and play physical in this game and in all
aspects of the game because they are a very well-coached team. They are
playing really well right now."
When asked to comment on the firing of LSU head coach Les Miles, Saban said, "That's not really for me to say, you know, one way or the other. It's a challenge for us to continue to try to be successful. I
can't really comment on anybody else's standard for what they want to
try to accomplish or what they want to try to do."
It was apparent Saban had respect for the man that took over at LSU after he left for the NFL. "First of all, Les Miles is one of the most respected
colleagues in terms of the rivalry that we've had, the competition that
we've had, the great teams that they've had," Saban said. "I kind of
hated that a man wins a national championship, wins two SEC titles and
doesn't make it through the season. It is what it is, but I have a
tremendous amount of respect for Les Miles and what he was able to
accomplish there, the number of wins he had.
"This is very similar to Georgia firing Mark Richt when he
averages 10 wins a season. I guess this is the time that we live in,
everybody needs to know that, but it doesn't minimize to any degree the
amount of respect that I have for the job that Les Miles did at LSU, the
great competitive teams that he's had there for a long, long time and
the amount of success that he's had. And certainly wish him and his
family well."
Concerning the Kentucky Wildcats, and head coach Mark Stoops in particular, Saban said he goes way back with Stoops and his family. He even spoke of having been unsuccessful at trying to get stoops to Michigan State as a recruit.
------------------------------------
Coaching Staff Names Nine Players Of The Week
 |
| Alabama Crimson Tide Football coaching staff Photo Credit: Athletic Department |
The Alabama Crimson Tide coaching staff today recognized nine players as Players of the Week following the 48-0 blowout victory over the Kent State Golden Flashes this past Saturday. From the offense, the coaches named O.J. Howard, Joshua Jacobs and Jonah Williams. From the defense it was Minkah Fitzpatrick, Ronnie Harrison and Keith Holcombe. From the special teams the coaches named Adam Griffith, Xavian Marks and JK Scott. The announcement was made today.
O.J. Howard had a a really good Saturday, hauling in three catches for a team-high 60 yards
as well as scoring his first touchdown of the season. He also helped block for Jacobs'
career performance, with the freshman rushing for 97 yards and a
pair of touchdowns on 11 carries. Jacobs also snaggedt a pair of passes
for 23 yards, Williams was a rock, posting a team-high
grade of 86 percent with a team-leading four knockdown blocks. He didn't allow a single sack, commit a penalty or surrender a quarterback pressure,
Defensively, Fitzpatrick led Alabama with 1.5 sacks for
-13 yards as part of his three total tackles on the day. Harrison also contributed three tackles as well as recovered a fumble. Holcombe finished
with a career-high six tackles to rank second on the team.
On extra-point attempts,Griffith was a perfect 4-for-4 as well as adding a pair of field goals of 28 and 48 yards. He also averaged 63.7 yards per kickoff on six kickoffs for 382 total yards, with three of those being touchbacks. In only two punts this past Saturday, totaled 98 yards with a long of 53 to average 49.0 yards per punt. Marks, in
his first action of the season as a punt returner, scored from 75
yards out to record his first career punt return for a touchdown. He
finished the day with four punt returns for 90 yards with a long of 75.
--------------------------------------
Alabama Women's Tennis Finishes Sunday Singles At 4-1
 |
| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The University of Alabama women's tennis team finished Sunday's singles matches 4-1 at the Rice Invitational yesterday afternoon at the George R. Brown Tennis Center in Houston, Texas. Danielle Spielmann captured the championship crown of her respective singles division.
Women's tennis head coach Jenny Mainz said, "I was pleased with the way we competed this weekend. We showed improvement through the tournament. Our goals were to get in our matches early, compete with tenacity and work on the things we need to do to be effective. I felt like we achieved these goals. We gained a lot of invaluable match play. We'll go back to the drawing board and get to work."
The Crimson belles have amassed an 18-3 singles record and a 5-3 record in doubles play to begin the 2016 season..
Alabama will travel to Charleston, South Carolina for the ITF 10K Charleston tomorrow.
-----------------------------------
FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll Has Bama On Top Again
The Football Writers Association of America and the National Football Foundation have again placed the Crimson Tide atop the FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll after week number four of the 2016 college football season. Alabama earned 41 of the 45 first place votes, with Louisville picking up the other four.
Four teams from the Southeastern Conference made this week's Super 16, with two of those coming in the top 10. Five other SEC teams received votes.
Here are the Super 16:
| Rank | Team | Points | First-place votes | |
| 1. | Alabama (4-0) | 715 | 41 | |
| 2. | Ohio State (3-0) | 661 | — | |
| 3. | Louisville (4-0) | 601 | 4 | |
| 4. | Michigan (4-0) | 544 | — | |
| 5. | Clemson (4-0) | 534 | — | |
| 6. | Houston (4-0) | 497 | — | |
| 7. | Stanford (3-0) | 441 | — | |
| 8. | Wisconsin (4-0) | 393 | — | |
| 9. | Texas A&M (4-0) | 360 | — | |
| 10. | Washington (4-0) | 333 | — | |
| 11. | Tennessee (4-0) | 294 | — | |
| 12. | Florida State (3-1) | 185 | — | |
| 13. | Miami (Fla.) (3-0) | 120 | — | |
| 14. | Baylor (4-0) | 115 | — | |
| 15. | Nebraska (4-0) | 93 | — | |
| 16. | Ole Miss (2-2) | 67 | — |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Utah (51), Michigan State (47), Arizona State (10), Georgia (7), Boise State (6), Texas (6), Auburn (5), San Diego State (5), Arkansas (4), Oklahoma (4), West Virginia (4), Colorado (3), LSU (3), UCLA (3), Iowa (2), Minnesota (2), North Dakota State (2), TCU (2), Florida (1).
-----------------------------------
ESPN Week 4 SEC Power Rankings
Once again ESPN has placed the Alabama Crimson Tide atop their Southeastern Conference power rankings. Here's a look at how things stack up in the SEC according to ESPN.
1. ALABAMA
2. Texas A&M
3. Tennessee
4. Ole Miss
5. Arkansas
6. Florida
7. Georgia
8. Auburn
9. LSU
10. Missouri
11. Mississippi State
12. Kentucky
13. South Carolina
14. Vanderbilt
