Tide Volleyball Defeats LSU in Regular Season Home Finale
11/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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TUSCALOOSA - The University of Alabama volleyball team kept up its winning ways heading into next weekend's SEC Championship Tournament posting an impressive 3-0 (30-28, 30-18, 30-26) sweep over LSU on Sunday afternoon in the CAVE.
The match marked the final home appearance for the Crimson Tide this season. Alabama finished with a 10-3 record at home this year. The win earned Bama third place overall in the Southeastern Conference and allowed them to grab the No. 3 seed at the upcoming tournament. Alabama ended the regular season at 17-12 and 11-5 in the SEC. UA closed their SEC schedule with nine consecutive wins. LSU slips to 11-18, 6-10 with the loss.
In addition to being the final home match of the 2003 ledger, Sunday's tilt also marked the final home appearance for Tide seniors Erin Price and Jennifer Bibber. The duo leave the program having amassed the most wins in a four year period (80) of any class since 1989. The pair also helped guide Bama to 40 SEC victories including twice posting 11 conference wins in one season.
"Erin and Jennifer are just two very special players," said UA head coach Judy Green. "It is a great feeling to be able to send them out at home with a victory. Today's match took a tremendous effort from us today. I thought we played with a lot of heart. Our goal for the past few weeks has been to win the third seed at the tournament outright and that's what we did today. I'm looking forward to a very exciting tournament."
Price got the crowd of over 500 into the match early in the opening frame has she staked the Tide to a 7-2. She scored opened and closed a five point run with kills that pushed her over the 1,000 kill mark for her career. She became the ninth UA player to reach that mark, joining teammates Bibber and Erin Heffner in reaching the milestone this season.
Alabama maintained a lead throughout the frame as LSU battled to knot the score twice but could never move in front. A Julie Farley ace put Bama ahead 28-24, before the Tigers clawed back to make the score 29-28. Price teamed with freshman Rachael Green for a block to give the Tide the winning point.
The Crimson Tide's offense took control in the second stanza. Alabama finished the game with a .615 hitting percentage recording 17 kills in 26 attempts with just one error. UA grabbed the early lead 7-3 and held that margin for several rotations. Price sparked a six-point surge for the Tide from the service line pushing Alabama in front by a 21-13 count. Bama's advantage reached double digits as UA cruised to a 30-18 victory in the game.
Following the break, LSU earned its first lead of the match at the start of game three. A scrappy Tiger squad kept Alabama at bay, eventually taking a four point lead, 22-18. The Crimson Tide continued to battle slowly chipping away at the LSU lead. Alabama finally knotted the score at 24 then closed out the match moments later by scoring the final five points for a 30-26 win.
Five Alabama players hit over .400 for the match led by Price's .462 showing that included eight kills. Heffner paced the balanced UA attack with 16 kills followed by 12 from Bibber. Green hit at a .444 clip with five kills and Julie Farley posted a .455 percentage with six kills.
Green was the Tide's top blocker finishing with five on the day while Bibber led the team's back row defenders with seven digs. Price finished with 36 assists in the match and became the first Alabama player to record 1,000 kills and assists in a career.
Alabama now turns its attention to the SEC Championship Tournament scheduled for Nov. 21-23 in Columbia, S.C. The No. 3 seeded Crimson Tide open out tournament play against host team No. 6 South Carolina on Friday at either 6 or 8 p.m. (ET).
Alabama (17-12, 11-5 SEC) 30-30-30
LSU (11-18, 6-10 SEC) 28-18-26
