Alabama Falls to #3 Florida in Volleyball
10/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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TUSCALOOSA - The University of Alabama volleyball team showed a marked improvement from the first time they played the #3-ranked Florida Gators just two weeks ago but in the end UF proved too strong handing the Tide a 3-0 (30-15, 30-25, 30-27) loss on Sunday afternoon in the CAVE in front of 492 fans.
In the earlier meeting with Florida, Bama managed just 20 points in one game, but on Sunday UA scored 25 and 27 points in each of the final two games and had their chances to earn wins in both frames. The loss drops the Crimson Tide to 7-10 overall and 2-4 in Southeastern Conference play. Florida improves to 18-1 and 6-0 in the SEC. The 3-0 win extended UF's consecutive game win streak to 53 games.
"I was extremely proud of our effort today," said UA head coach Judy Green. "I thought we were much more balanced and more competitive. In our first match with them we only dug 14 balls but today we had over 40 which says a lot for our defensive effort. We just need to continue to develop our defensive and serving consistency."
Florida took a slight lead in the early going of game one, but broke things open with a seven-point run on Jane Collymore's serve to take a 17-7 lead. Collymore served up a pair of aces in the scoring stretch. Alabama attempted to comeback but another 9-1 run by the Gators pushed the score to 29-13. UA fought off a couple game points before falling 30-15.
In game two, the Tide scored the first point to take their only lead of the afternoon. UF regained the lead and opened up a six-point advantage (16-10) but a 6-1 spurt by the Tide trimmed the lead to just a single point, 18-17. The match settled into a sideout battle that the Gators eventually won by the count of 30-25.
The Gators grabbed another early lead in game three but couldn't shake the Tide as Bama kept things close with a balanced offensive attack. UF seemed to have things in hand late in the third game, holding a 28-21 lead, but Alabama mounted a final rally scoring seven of the next eight points to cut their deficit to just two at 29-27. In the run, UA fended off five match point tries for Florida before finally losing 30-27. The 27 points were the second most scored by a UF opponent in a game in over a month.
Jennifer Bibber recorded 13 kills to lead the Tide offensively while Erin Heffner finished with 10 digs to pace the UA defense. Bibber also posted an impressive .400 hitting performance committing just three hitting errors in 25 attempts. As a team, Alabama finished with 41 digs and hit. .193. Florida hit .388 as a team with a trio of players reaching double-digit kills led by 13 from Aury Cruz.
Alabama returns to the SEC road for its next two matches. The Tide travels to Auburn to face their in-state rivals on Wednesday then head to Knoxville, Tenn., for a tilt against the Tennessee Lady Vols on Sunday.
Alabama (7-10, 2-4 SEC) 15-25-27
Florida (18-1, 6-0 SEC) 30-30-30
