Volleyball Beats Illinois State for Tourney Championship
9/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
» ORMAL, Ill. - The Alabama volleyball team made it a clean sweep on Saturday night capturing the tournament title at the Barker GMC Classic with an impressive 3-1 victory (30-24, 30-26, 30-32, 30-26) win over Illinois State in the championship match.
The win improved the Crimson Tide to 3-0 on the year and marked the 22nd tournament crown in the program's 21-year history. It was the second year in a row that Alabama has opened the year with a tourney championship.
"This is a big win for this young team on the road," said UA head coach Judy Green. "We have matured a lot this weekend. Our balance as a team was very evident tonight. I thought the 'Bomb Squad' (Bibber, Price and Heffner) stepped up huge for us. I knew that our serving could be a weapon for us and tonight it truly was. It's a great feeling to win a tournament against good teams to open the season."
Illinois State maintained a slight lead for much of the early going in game one. The Tide kept it close and then used a six-point run on Jennifer Bibber's serve to take a lead they would never relinquish. Bibber served up a pair of aces in the spurt and also stepped up on the front line scoring five of Bama's final seven points with four kills and a solo block as the Tide rolled to the 30-24 win. UA also kept the Redbird offense off-balance with strong serves resulting in seven aces in the frame.
A mini-run sparked by back-to-back Kory Tull aces put the Tide in front (15-11) midway through the second game but ISU answered with a six-point spurt to take the lead back. The two squads traded points for several possessions until Julie Farley fired up two straight aces to give Bama some breathing room. The Tide kept the momentum and held on for the 30-26 win and a 2-0 lead in the match. Aggressive play from the service line again keyed Alabama as the Crimson Tide finished with six aces in the stanza including the game winner by Tull.
Game three started as a classic sideout battle with neither team able to establish an advantage. Illinois State capitalized on a Tide lull in the middle of the game to take a five-point lead (24-19). Erin Price led a Tide comeback teaming with Farley for a pair of blocks and posting two kills to cut the margin to just one. Alabama pushed back in front but couldn't convert a pair match point chances as ISU rallied for the win, 32-30.
The Redbirds rode the momentum of their emotional game three win to an early lead in the fourth frame (9-5). The Tide struggled with its ball-handling and had trouble closing the ISU scoring gap falling behind by seven (24-17). Kenna Milner got Bama back in the contest with solid defense and strong serves scoring seven points including an ace to put UA up by one (25-24). Bibber struck again putting down three straight kills to put Bama up 29-26 then Tull notched another ace to capture the victory.
Bibber led all hitters with 26 kills in the contest followed by 14 from Erin Heffner and 13 by Price. Heffner also led the Tide with 14 digs en route to earning her first career Tournament MVP honor. The Crimson Tide finished the match with 18 aces with Tull's five the top mark. Heffner was joined on the all-tournament squad by Bibber and Price.
"It's pretty cool thing," said Heffner after being named MVP. "I couldn't have done it without the play of my teammates. We really played well tonight."
Alabama returns to action on Tuesday night when they travel to Birmingham to face UAB at 7:30 p.m. at Bartow Arena.
Alabama (3-0) 30 30 30 30
Illinois State (2-1) 24 26 32 26
