Tide Drops Disappointing Loss at LSU in Volleyball
11/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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BATON ROUGE, La. - The Crimson Tide volleyball suffered a disappointing 3-1 (32-30, 26-30, 23-30, 28-30) loss to a hot-playing and emotionally-charged LSU squad on Sunday in an important Southeastern Conference match.
The loss dropped Alabama into third-place in the SEC West with a 6-6 conference mark and a 16-11 overall record. LSU, who have now won five consecutive SEC contests, improves to 15-7 on the year and 7-4 in SEC play with the "Senior Day" victory.
The Tigers rode a wave of determination from its five seniors in their final home match to earn the season split against Bama. For the Tide it was the squad's first time to be swept in a conference weekend since LSU and Arkansas accomplished the feat at the start of league play last year.
"I hate playing on other team's Senior Day because it gives them just that much more enthusiasm," said UA head coach Judy Green. "LSU did a great job of earning the critical points and making the important plays to win games. We aren't finished yet, we just have to get back in the gym and practice and play that much harder the rest of the way."
The opening game was a hard-fought battle that saw neither team able to open up larger than a three-point margin. The Tide used a 6-1 run to turn a two-point deficit into a 12-9 lead. Bama held on to its advantage for several rotations but the Tigers eventually clawed their way back to tie the score at 18. From there the game became a side-out competition that Alabama finally won 32-30. Both teams were clicking offensively with UA posting a .486 to .410 edge in hitting percentage.
LSU scored the first three points of the second frame and maintained that margin for much of the early going. The Tigers broke things open midway through the game with a four-point spurt that but them in front 20-13. Alabama rallied to trim the lead to two (27-25) with some strong serving but LSU would allow the Tide to get no closer earning the 30-26 win with a pair of tandem block points.
Game three played out very similar to the previous two games as both teams struggled to put a string of points together. LSU made the first surge taking a 19-14 with an 8-0 run. The Crimson Tide would again cut the Tiger advantage to just two (24-22) but LSU closed the game on a 6-1 spurt to earn the match lead with a 30-23 victory. Bama struggled offensively hitting just .056 from the floor and committing several costly unforced hitting errors.
Alabama held a slight edge early in the fourth game only to see the Tigers fight back and grab their first lead 15-14. The game remained tight with the teams playing to a tie five different times before LSU finally earned the crack they needed to earn the 30-28 game win.
The Tide saw four players tally double-digit kills led by 19 from Erin Heffner and 17 by Erin Price. Kory Tull finished with 10 as did true freshman Kelley Potter, who was an offensive bright spot for the Tide in her first extended play as a middle blocker. Tull also led the Bama squad with 12 digs to earn her fourth double-double of the season.
LSU senior Jennifer Hampton led all players with 25 kills and helped the Tigers to a .366 to .298 edge in hitting percentage with her .444 performance. Hampton paced the Tiger defense with 11 digs while Cara Causey finished with six blocks in LSU's 12-4 advantage in team blocks.
The Crimson Tide will take nearly a week off from competition before returning to the floor on Friday against No. 3 Florida. Bama will host Florida and Georgia (Sunday) this coming weekend in the team's final contests versus SEC Eastern division foes.
Alabama (16-11, 6-6 SEC) 32 26 23 28
LSU (15-7, 7-4 SEC) 30 30 30 30
