Alabama Volleyball Outlasts Georgia for SEC Victory
9/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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ATHENS, Ga. - The University of Alabama volleyball team earned a hard-fought weekend road split in Southeastern Conference action on Sunday by outlasting Georgia 3-2 (30-28, 25-30, 30-27, 18-30, 15-5) in a five-game battle.
Alabama improved to 6-7 overall and evened its league record to 1-1 with the victory. Georgia falls to 8-6 and 1-1 in the loss. The win also marked the fifth time in the last six meetings between the two that Bama has earned the victory.
Senior Jennifer Bibber posted a season high 19 kills in the match to become the 8th Alabama player to record 1,000 kills in her career. Erin Heffner paced the Tide attack with 23 kills.
"Any time you can go on the road in the SEC and get a win it is huge," said UA head coach Judy Green. "Today was a real battle and it took a total team effort from us to come out on the winning side. I thought the difference for us was our serving and passing. The fifth game was awesome. We finally showed what we can do when we put everything together."
The first game was back-and-forth until a four-point surge by Georgia gave the Bulldogs some breathing room, 12-8. The two teams settled into a sideout battle for the next several possessions, but Erin Price served up a pair of aces in a Tide rally that knotted the score at 19. Moments later Bama scored another four-point spurt to take a lead they would not relinquish as UA earned the 30-28 victory. Bibber paced a potent Alabama offense with eight kills in the frame.
Georgia got out of the gates quickly in the second game. UGA held a 13-6 lead following a five point run aided by several unforced Crimson Tide errors. The Bulldogs then widened their margin to 22-8 behind a string of seven straight points. Bama refused to quit and slowly whittled the deficit under 10 points. The Tide fought off six game points before finally running out of time in a 30-25 loss. Serving helped the UA cause as Alabama finished with five aces in the game.
Alabama grabbed the early advantage in game three as the Tide continued to use aggressive serves to keep UGA off balance. With UA holding an 18-13 edge, Georgia battled back to eventually close the gap to a single point several times. However, Bama never allowed the 'Dogs to tie the score and held on for a 30-27 win.
Bibber's historic kill happened midway through the game.
Game four started evenly with both teams enjoying success with their sideout offenses. Georgia broke things open midway through the stanza with an 8-1 run. Bama tried to keep things close but the Bulldogs extended their lead to double figures en route to the 30-18 victory.
The Crimson Tide saved their best for last jumping on Georgia early and often in the deciding game. Alabama won the match with a 15-5 victory in the final frame. UA posted six blocks in the fifth which matched the Tide's blocking output in the first four games combined.
In addition to their two-headed offensive barrage, Bibber and Heffner were also the squad's top defenders recording 14 digs each. Julie Farley finished with eight blocks including four in the final game to lead the UA net defense. Price, a senior from Alpharetta, Ga., handed out a career high 54 assists and had a team best five aces in her final appearance in her home state.
Julia Petruschke, the SEC Freshman of the Year last season, was held in check by the Tide defense hitting just .171 with 14 kills in five games.
Alabama continues its SEC-opening road swing next weekend as they visit SEC West rivals Arkansas (Friday) and LSU (Sunday).
Alabama (6-7, 1-1) 30-25-30-18-15
Georgia (8-6, 1-1) 28-30-27-30-5
