Bama Volleyball Defeats South Carolina for Weekend Sweep
11/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
 |
|
TUSCALOOSA - The University of Alabama volleyball team made it five wins in a row on Sunday with a decisive 3-1 (31-29, 22-30, 30-23, 30-22) victory over South Carolina.
The victory improved the Tide's overall record to 13-11 and upped their SEC mark to 7-5. The Gamecocks dropped their seventh match in their last eight contests falling to 11-13 and 5-7. This marks the second consecutive weekend that Alabama has swept SEC opponents.
"It was an absolute team effort today," said UA head coach Judy Green. "We had terrific balance offensively from all our hitters. I'm very proud of how this team stuck with our game plan especially in games three and four to get the win. I thought one of the biggest differences was how we were able to sideout following the break. I'm thrilled and excited with our performance."
Three Crimson Tide hitters reached double digits on Sunday led by Erin Heffner with 19 kills. Jennifer Bibber finished with 18 followed by Kelley Potter with 10. Setter Erin Price again flexed her offensive strength posting nine kills to go along with her 46 assists. Four players hit over .300 for the match with Potter's .474 leading the way. Bama hit at a .348 clip as a team.
In game one, the two squads were evenly matched as both teams had their chance in the lead. South Carolina opened up a 17-12 advantage only to see Bama rally back to knot the score at 23. The teams traded points for several rotations, but Alabama captured the win behind a pair of kills from Bibber winning 31-29. USC won the battle of the stats in the opening frame but the Tide scored the critical points when they needed them.
Game two saw USC inched out to the early lead, but Alabama again battled back to even the score. The Gamecocks took a 16-11 lead and held that margin for much of the rest of the game. The Tide trimmed the deficit to three (21-18) but would get no closer as Carolina scored six of the final eight points to earn the 30-22 decision and tie the match at one.
Following the break, Alabama turned things up offensively jumping out to a 9-3 lead just three rotations into play. The Tide held that margin for the rest of the stanza as they cruised to a 30-23 victory. Bama hit a blistering .500 for the game tallying 18 kills in only 28 attempts. The Tide also scored five of their nine blocks in the match during the third game.
South Carolina grabbed the early lead, 10-6, in game four. Alabama again fought back to tie the score at 13 and gain their first lead at 18-17. Bibber sparked the Tide offense from their scoring several of her game high six kills during the closing stretch as Alabama took the match with a 30-22 win in the final game.
In addition to a strong offensive performance, Alabama also got a solid defensive showing led by 13 digs from libero Kory Tull. Julie Farley and Price shared blocking honors as both players finished with five to help Bama win the battle at the net 9 to 6.
Lynae Vanden Hull tallied 16 kills to lead the Gamecock offense and a pair of USC defenders recorded eight digs to pace the Carolina defense.
The Crimson Tide concludes their six match home stand on Wednesday night versus Southern Mississippi at 7 p.m. Following that match, Alabama heads to Ole Miss (Friday) and Mississippi State (Sunday) for their final regular season road contests of the year.
Alabama (13-11, 7-5 SEC) 31 22 30 30
South Carolina (11-13, 5-7 SEC) 29 30 23 22
