Tide Volleyball Opens SEC Play With Victory at Kentucky
9/28/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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The Alabama volleyball team opened the second portion of its schedule earning a hard-fought 3-1 (30-27, 30-32, 32-30, 30-25) Southeastern Conference victory on the road at Kentucky on Friday night.
The Tide improves to 10-5 on the season and 1-0 in SEC play while the Wildcats are now 6-6 overall and 0-2 in the league. Alabama improved to just 2-7 all-time at Kentucky with the victory with Bama's only other victory coming last season.
"It is a great feeling to start the conference season off with a win," said UA head coach Judy Green. "Great teams find a way to win and that is what we did tonight. Kentucky played us extremely tough but our solid passing allowed us to keep up a consistent level of play. I am thrilled to have a road SEC win under our belts."
Following a Kenna Milner service ace to open the game for Bama, Kentucky answered with the next four points to take an early advantage. Alabama battled back retaking the lead, 8-7, on an ace by Jennifer Bibber. The Tide maintained their advantage and stretched it to its largest margin (17-12) on a tandem block by Erin Heffner and Julie Farley. The Wildcats clawed their way back using back-to-back aces to knot the score at 20. The two sides swapped points to 26 when a Bibber kill and UK ball-handling error gave UA the slight edge they needed. The Tide closed out the frame by the count of 30-27.
Kentucky again took the early advantage only to see the Tide race back in front (9-7) on a pair of Heffner kills and an ace by Farley. UA held its lead but several unforced errors by the Tide allowed the Kats to stay in the game. The two teams remained close until a five point service run by Milner pushed the Tide in front by three (25-22). The Wildcats answered with three consecutive points of their own to tie the score again. Alabama served with a chance to win the second stanza but UK fought it off scoring the final three points for the 32-30 victory.
Alabama ran out to the quick 5-0 lead in game three behind a pair of blocks involving senior Shelly Adamcik, who was inserted into the lineup for an injured Kory Tull. Tull collided with a teammate late in game two and suffered a bruised hip. UA held onto its advantage until a 6-0 spurt by the Kats midway gave them the 15-13 lead. Bama fought back reclaiming the lead 21-19 on two of Heffner's 11 kills in the frame. Kentucky knotted the score at 21 and then the two squads again settled into a sideout contest to 29. UK again fought off a pair of game points by the Tide, but could not do it a third time as the Tide earned the win, 32-30. With the win, Alabama improved to 12-3 for the year in game threes.
The Wildcats held a slight lead for much of the fourth game as the Tide continued to keep it close with timely plays. Alabama eventually evened the score at 18 and took its first lead in the frame on a Price-Adamcik block and a Price kill (21-19). With the score tied at 22, Adamcik sparked Bama on a 6-0 run from the service line. UK refused to go away easily fending off a UA game point, but Heffner closed the match with her career-high matching 26th kill to earn the 30-25 win.
Heffner led all players with 26 kills followed by Bibber with 16 kills and a career-high 16 digs. Price also posted a double-double finishing with 12 kills and 13 digs. Milner also handed out a career-high 59 assists in setting a balanced Tide attack to a .228 hitting performance. Kentucky got the majority of its offense from two players as Sarah Spinner (23 kills) and Kristen Batt (21 kills) led the way in the loss.
The Crimson Tide continues its SEC opening road trip with a match at South Carolina on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (ET).
Alabama (10-5, 1-0 SEC) 30 30 32 30
Kentucky (6-6, 0-2 SEC) 27 32 30 25
