Tide Volleyball Upsets #18 South Carolina at SEC Tournament
11/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - University of Alabama volleyball coach Judy Green raised the level of her schedule this season hoping to give the Crimson Tide some experience in playing talented teams. Those early season tests paid off on Friday when Alabama (19-13) upset No.18 ranked South Carolina (21-6) in straight games in the opening match of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Alabama, who had been beaten 3-0 twice earlier this season by USC, turned the table on the second-seeded Gamecocks handing them a 3-0 (30-24, 30-20, 30-23) defeat. The victory marked the Bama volleyball program's first ever win over a nationally-ranked team and snapped UA's four-match losing skid to Carolina. It also marked the Tide's second consecutive opening round victory at the league championship event.
"Wow, that's all I can say right now," said UA head coach Judy Green, who has now led Bama to wins in three of her seven SEC Tournament appearances. "It is just an unbelievable feeling. We have been waiting all season to put a match together like this and today we did it. Everybody played great today. Our defense was so solid and we never gave them a string of free points during the match. We are very excited to be moving on but I also feel like our work here is not done."
The two teams went back and forth with the lead to start game one with neither team able to hold more than a two-point advantage. With the scored knotted at 16, Alabama made its move scoring 7 of the next 9 points to take a 23-18 lead. USC fought back to trim the Tide margin to three a couple of times but could get no closer as the Tide scored four of the last five points in the frame for a 30-24 victory.
The Crimson Tide maintained the momentum to start game two taking a quick 5-2 lead and then pushed their margin to four points at 11-7. Moments later UA broke the game open with a string of six straight points to move in front by double-digits 18-8. Alabama's continued solid play on both sides of the net kept Carolina from finding any kind of flow and the Tide cruised to the 2-0 lead in the match with an easy 30-20 win.
Alabama looked ready to deliver the Gamecocks the knockout blow after earning an 8-2 lead at the beginning of game three, but USC refused to quit scoring the next six points to tie the score at 8. After trading points, the Tide regained control of the contest with an 8-1 run and never looked back en route to the 30-23 victory.
The Tide dominated in all phases of the match earning the edge in kills (57-36), digs (61-44) and hitting percentage (.266 to .167) over South Carolina. All-SEC selection Erin Heffner paced a trio of Alabama hitters in double figures with 14 kills. Erin Price finished with 12 while Kory Tull chipped in 11 in the win. Five of Bama's six players finished the match with 10 or more digs led by Kenna Milner with 13 digs. Milner also handed out 45 assists to set the Bama single season assist record with 1,409 this year.
South Carolina, who placed four players on the All-SEC first and second team squads, never got things going against the Crimson Tide as only two Gamecocks could reach double-figure kills - Cally Plummer (11) and Sarah Morgan (10). The league's leader in service aces, USC struggled from the service line against a strong passing Tide squad recording no aces and 10 service errors. Alabama, the second ranked serving team, finished with 5 aces and just 8 miscues.
Alabama moves into the semifinals of the SEC Tournament where they will face the winner of Friday night's match between No. 3 seed Arkansas and No. 6 seed Tennessee at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Barnhill Arena.
Alabama (19-13) 30 30 30
#18 South Carolina (21-6) 24 20 23
