Volleyball Earns Second Win of Day Against Georgia Southern
9/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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TUSCALOOSA - The University of Alabama volleyball team made it two for two on Friday night after earning a hard-fought 3-2 (30-22, 30-24, 20-30, 24-30, 15-12) victory over Georgia Southern in the final game of day one action at the Crimson Tide Invitational.
Alabama has now won three of its last four matches and improved to 4-6 on the season with the thrilling five-game victory. Georgia Southern fell to 5-7 after dropping its second contest of the day.
The Tide jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match only to watch the Eagles battle back and take the next two games and force a deciding fifth frame. UA finally turned things around and captured the match with a nail-biting win in the finale.
"We showed a tremendous amount of character tonight," said UA head coach Judy Green. "The match boiled down to who passed and served better. When we passed solid and served aggressive we controlled the tempo and when they were able to do it then they were in control. The real difference tonight was our strong start in game five."
Erin Heffner posted 16 kills to lead a trio of Tide players in double figures. Jennifer Bibber scored a double-double with 15 kills and team-high 11 digs. Alabama served up a season-high 20 aces in the match led by five each from Heffner and Tull. The match ace total ranked third all-time in UA history and was the most since the Tide served 20 aces against Tennessee on Nov. 3, 1990.
The Crimson Tide got off to the quick start in game one leading by as many as eight points at 20-12. Georgia Southern scored six straight points to trim the Tide lead to only two but Bama eventually pushed back in front to earn the 30-22 victory.
Game two was more of the same for Alabama as GSU could never get in a flow because of some strong Tide serving. The Tide fought off a late Eagle challenge en route to winning 30-24.
Georgia Southern turned things around in the third game as the Tide struggled to pass consistently. The Eagles took advantage of several passing breakdowns by Bama to earn a 30-20 victory. Alabama rallied from an early deficit to knot the score at 14 in game three, but GSU used back-to-back seven and five point runs to break the contest open.
The Eagles continued their strong play in the fourth stanza as Alabama continued to suffer from passing letdowns. The Tide was also plagued by untimely service errors that prevented Bama from putting together any significant scoring runs. GSU scored the frames first three points and widened their margin to six by the end earning a 30-24 decision.
Tull got things rolling for the Tide in the fifth game staking Bama to an early lead with a service ace on the opening serve. Kelley Potter added a pair of aces in a string of four service points as UA took a 7-2 advantage. Alabama pushed the score to 14-9, but GSU refused to quit fighting off three match points before falling 15-12.
Tournament action at the Crimson Tide Invitational concludes on Saturday with a pair of matches. Georgia Southern looks for its first win of the event against Jacksonville State (1-1) at 11 a.m. Alabama hosts in-state rival UAB at 1:30 p.m. in the tournament finale.
