Alabama Volleyball Posts Hard-Fought Win at Butler, 3-1
9/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - It was a fitting "Hollywood" style performance in a gym made famous by Hollywood as the University of Alabama volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-1 (30-22, 25-30, 30-24, 30-24) win over Butler.
The victory snapped a four-match losing skid for the Tide, who improves to 2-5 on the season. The loss drops Butler to 6-3.
The match was played in historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, the scene of the championship basketball game in the movie "Hoosiers", and it was a pair of Crimson Tide "Hoosiers" that led the way in victory. Erin Heffner, a native of Ft. Wayne, Ind., paced the Bama offense with 18 kills while Lafayette, Ind., product Kory Tull finished with an 11 kills-15 dig double double.
Another exciting moment for Alabama came in the fourth game when redshirt sophomore Jennifer Cusimano completed her long climb back from a pair of knee surgeries to play for the first time in over two years.
"Tonight's win was a total team effort," said UA head coach Judy Green. "I really liked the mentality we played with and I was proud of how we continued to play aggressively throughout the contest. We did a good job of minimizing our errors in all the games we won. It was also really special to see Cusimano get to play again."
Alabama got things rolling early using an 8-1 run to take a 14-7 lead midway through the first stanza. The Crimson Tide maintained a comfortable margin for the remainder of the frame en route to a 30-22 victory. The win marked just the second time this season that UA has been victorious in the opening game.
Game two seesawed back and forth with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage for much of the frame. With the score knotted at 22, Butler rattled off five straight points and closed out the game with a 30-25 win. Alabama committed several unforced errors down the stretch that aided the Bulldog closing run.
The Tide got things turned around early in game three behind some solid serving and net play. UA led 8-4, but Butler rallied with 9-2 run to take a 13-10 advantage of their own. Alabama continued to battle and a string of five points on Tull's serve put the Tide back in front by the count of 18-16. UA kept the defensive pressure on and captured the third game by the score of 30-24.
The momentum carried on for Alabama into game four as the Tide opened up a quick 9-3 lead. Butler trimmed their deficit to just three points on a pair of occasions but could get no closer as a determined Crimson Tide squad closed out the match with a 30-24 victory.
In addition to the play of Tull and Heffner, UA sophomore Kelley Potter recorded a career-high 21 digs to lead Bama's back-row defense. The Tide earned a 68-49 advantage in digs and also out-hit the Bulldogs 61-39 in kills. Senior setter Erin Price handed out 49 assists in guiding Bama to a .236 hitting performance, the best of showing of the year.
Alabama now travels to Louisville, Ky., to face the No. 21 ranked Cardinals on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
Alabama (2-5) 30-25-30-30
Butler (6-3) 22-30-24-24
