Alabama Volleyball Falls to No. 3 Florida
11/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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TUSCALOOSA - A gritty and determined Crimson Tide volleyball team took on a very talented Florida squad on Friday night and for most of the match held their own against the No. 3 ranked team in the country. In the end, the Gators proved too strong earning a 3-0 (30-24, 30-28, 30-16) victory.
With the win Florida extends their winning streak to 19 straight matches and improves to 23-1 overall and a perfect 13-0 in Southeastern Conference action. The Tide slips to 16-12 overall and 6-7 in SEC play.
"Overall I'm very happy with our play," said UA head coach Judy Green. "In the first two games we gave ourselves a great chance to be successful. We did a lot of things that we can build on down the stretch. The difference in the third game was that Florida raised their level of play another notch. That's something that our team is still learning how to do."
Florida jumped out to the early lead in game one maintaining a three to five point margin for most of the frame. The Tide battled the Gators refusing to go away even after UF opened up a 24-18 lead. Bama trimmed the deficit to just three but Florida was able to hold on for the 30-24 victory.
Game two saw an aggressive Crimson Tide open up a 9-5 advantage behind several kills from Erin Heffner and some solid net play by UA's front line. The Gators used a 7-1 run to turn a four-point deficit into a two point lead (13-11) but Bama answered with five of the next six points to regain a lead. Alabama strung four points together for a 24-20 lead and held that margin until a veteran Florida group rallied for eight of the final 10 points and a 30-28 win. The Tide got as close as three points to becoming only the second SEC team this season to take a game off the Gators.
A refocused Florida team put on an offensive show in game three taking an early advantage and never looking back. UF led 10-8 and then broke things open with a 7-1 spurt. The Gators kept the pressure on extending their lead to double-digits (21-11) and eventually doubling up the Tide at 26-13. Bama could find no answer for Florida All-American Aury Cruz, who finished with nine kills in the deciding game. Florida earned the three-game sweep over UA with a 30-16 third game decision.
Heffner was the lone Tide player in double figures recording 15 over the three games. Setter Kenna Milner handed out 28 assists for the match and led the team with six digs. Freshman Kelley Potter, who made her first career start at middle blocker, finished with four blocks to pace the Bama front row.
Cruz ended the match with 23 kills and was the Gators only double-digit performer. Michelle Chatman recorded 12 digs and Benavia Jenkins tallied six blocks as Florida's other team leaders.
The Crimson Tide concludes their SEC weekend action on Sunday when UA plays host to Georgia at 1:30 p.m. in the "CAVE".
Alabama (16-12, 6-7 SEC) 24 28 16
#3 Florida (23-1, 13-0 SEC) 30 30 30
