Serving the campus of the University of Alabama since 1894

The Crimson White


Serving the campus of the University of Alabama since 1894

The Crimson White

Serving the campus of the University of Alabama since 1894

The Crimson White

Christine Jarman steps up for the Crimson Tide

Christine Jarman steps up for the Crimson Tide

Christine Jarman feels like she would have ended up at The University of Alabama even if she was not playing volleyball.

The large campus, the love of UA sports and the fact the school is in the South played a major role in getting Jarman to come play for The Crimson Tide.

“After just looking everywhere, I really loved the coach and the team and just the family environment here,” Jarman said. “And it’s a little different than going to FSU or UF, where my entire high school goes. But it’s also not too far away from home.”

Jarman was asked to play a bigger role than was anticipated by coach Ed Allen. However, he feels Jarman has come in and been prepared for the bigger responsibility.

“She’s done everything and more, in terms of what we expected from her,” Allen said. “She’s a kid that we were really hoping not to rely too heavily on, but have had to rely heavily on. Just simply because we are depleted on the outside. She’s had to come in and step in right away and be able to contribute and play. I think that’s been a tough situation for her. She’s handled it quite well.”

Jarman has started in all 17 matches this season. She has collected four double-doubles and has been an important part of Alabama’s 12-5 start to the season.

She knows she’s been asked to do more than she anticipated, but is ready to go out and play for her team.

“There’s a big responsibility, but I am just obviously trying to do whatever I can for the team,” Jarman said. “I don’t always do the best job, but putting in full effort is what I am focusing on and just putting in a 100 percent every time I step on the court.”

Alabama did not play its best match of the season on Sunday against Missouri. The Crimson Tide was swept in straight sets by the Tigers, but has moved on from the match and hope to learn from it.

“On Sunday, the team was down,” Jarman said. “We need to look to each other and lift each other up when we are down like that. But it got a little tense out there, we didn’t really have our flow, so I think that was a big problem on Sunday.”

Alabama will turn its focus to No. 10 Kentucky. It will travel to Lexington, Kentucky for a match on Friday at 7 p.m.

Jarman knows that for Alabama to have a chance to upset Kentucky, the team will need to be firing on all cylinders.

“We’re really looking to focus on our side of the net,” Jarman said. “We need to have good ball control and transition attacking, make sure we are putting long rallies away. Just really focusing on being aggressive and confident, working as a team.”

Alabama is off to a slow 1-3 start in SEC play, but would like to turn things around against the Wildcats. 

Being apart of a younger team, Jarman is excited to see what the team can do as they move through the season.

“It’s awesome to go through the season and see how much we grow from preseason till now,” she said. “It’s great to see that we’re not just staying the same and we’re really improving each match. We do have setbacks sometimes, but we are growing and getting comfortable with each other.”

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