Bama Volleyball Defeats FSU at Barker GMC Classic
9/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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NORMAL, Ill. - In their first match of the day on Saturday at the Barker GMC Classic, the Crimson Tide volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-1 (30-26, 27-30, 30-19, 30-28) win over Florida State.
With the win, Alabama improved to 2-0 at the tournament and puts themselves in position to play for the tournament championship. The victory also snapped a four-match losing skid versus FSU, who dropped to 0-2 on the year.
"We were a much more confident bunch on the floor today," said Bama head coach Judy Green. "Offensively we were a lot better. I thought we did a good job of siding out during the match. This was a total team effort because we got scoring from a variety of positions."
The opening game started with the two squads trading points for several possessions. Alabama made the first push behind a seven-point serving run by Julie Farley to take a 15-10 lead. The Tide kept its margin and held on for the win (30-26) but not before Florida State fought off four UA game point opportunities.
Game two saw the Lady Seminoles erase an early Tide lead with a 9-1 spurt. Kory Tull put Bama back in front (12-10) with a five-point run on her serve including an ace. The score stayed close for the remainder of the frame with neither squad owning more than a three-point advantage. FSU captured some late momentum and rode it to a 30-27 victory to knot the match game score.
Early in the third stanza, All-SEC outside hitter Jennifer Bibber got into a rhythm offensively putting down several balls including a string of three consecutive kills. Bibber continued her solid play throughout the frame finishing with eight kills to lead the Tide to a 30-19 win. Aggressive serving was also a key for the Tide as they tallied five aces in a stretch where they extended their lead to double digits (23-12).
Alabama got out of the blocks quickly in game four taking a 7-2 lead. The 'Noles battled back to even the score at 10 but five quick points from the Tide put them back in front. A scrappy FSU team would not quit tying the score several more times before Bama finally outlasted them for the 30-28 victory. Tull iced the match for the Tide with a kill and solo block for the final two points.
Bibber paced a trio of Alabama attackers with a season-high 19 kills followed by 16 from Erin Heffner and 14 by Erin Price. Heffner also led the Bama defense with 10 digs. The Tide finished the match with 12 service aces and hit over .300 for the contest (.308) on 50 assists by Kenna Milner.
The Crimson Tide concludes tournament action tonight at 7 p.m. in the tournament finale versus Illlinois State.
Alabama (2-0) 30 27 30 30
Florida State (0-2) 26 30 19 28
