Bama Volleyball Sweeps Jacksonville State, 3-0
9/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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TUSCALOOSA - The Alabama volleyball team overcame a slow start to capture an impressive 3-0 (30-27, 30-18, 30-9) victory over in-state foe Jacksonville State on Wednesday night in the CAVE.
Alabama improves to 7-4 on the year and snaps a four-match losing skid. The win also marked the Tide's 11th consecutive victory over an in-state opponent. JSU falls to 4-6 on the year and have now lost four of their last five contests.
"This was a good win for our team," said UA head coach Judy Green. "We needed to regain some confidence after last weekend and I thought we did that tonight. We did the things we are going to need to do this weekend. I like the way we improved in all areas as the match moved along. It was a total team effort."
The opening game was a back-and-forth sideout battle for much of the frame. Neither team held more than a two-point advantage until the Tide used a mini-run to open up a late five-point margin (28-23). JSU battled back trimming the Bama lead to 29-27 but senior Shelly Adamcik scored the final point with her sixth kill of the opening game. The Lady Gamecocks benefited from 10 service errors by Alabama to keep things close.
Alabama found more effectiveness from the service line in game two as Erin Price posted back-to-back aces in staking UA to an early 5-1 lead. Bama continued to build on their lead pushing it to double digits (25-15) on an ace from Adamcik. The Tide kept the pressure on JSU closing out the game for the 30-18 victory. In the frame the Crimson Tide hit at a .458 pace while limiting the Lady Gamecocks to just .167. Kory Tull was a force at the net leading Bama with four kills and three blocks in the stanza.
Game three was all Alabama as the Tide used several multi-point runs from the service line to cruise to a 30-9 victory. Adamcik, Tull and Bridget Studnicka all served back-to-back aces in their scoring runs. Adamcik broke open a close 7-5 match with seven straight points then Studnicka pushed the Tide in front by double digits with a nine-point spurt. Tull closed out the match leading Bama to the final six points. The Tide offense also performed at an impressive .609 hitting percentage.
Jennifer Bibber and Erin Heffner led a well-balanced offensive attack for the Tide with 11 kills each. Adamcik finished with a season-high nine kills while Tull chipped in eight. Both Adamcik and Tull finished the match without committing a hitting error. Tull was also the team leader in digs with six and blocks with five. Alabama finished the match with 15 service aces and outhit the visiting Lady Gamecocks .476 to .094 for the match. UA also won the battle at the net finishing with eight blocks to JSU's two.
The Crimson Tide begin a seven-match road swing this weekend when the team travels to Atlanta to play in the Georgia Tech Invitational. Bama opens play at the event at 1 p.m. (ET) on Friday against Cornell before meeting tournament host Georgia Tech at 7:30 p.m. (ET). The Tide concludes tournament play at 3 p.m. (ET) on Saturday versus Florida International.
Friday night's match against Georgia Tech is being televised on a tape delay basis by Fox Sports Net South. It will be shown at 1 p.m. (ET) on Sept. 28.
Alabama (7-4) 30 30 30
Jacksonville St (4-6) 27 18 9
