Tide Volleyball Drops 3-0 Decision at Arkansas
10/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - In the battle for the top spot in the Southeastern Conference Western Division standings, the University of Alabama volleyball team came up just short in a 3-0 (30-26, 30-25, 30-26) loss to Arkansas on Friday night.
The Tide (16-6, 6-5 SEC) struggled all night against the division leading Lady Razorbacks (11-10, 8-3 SEC). Arkansas used aggressive serving and a solid defensive effort to keep Alabama off-balance for most of the contest.
"We were outplayed by a very determined Arkansas Volleyball team," said UA head coach Judy Green coaching in her 750th career match. "They deserved and earned the victory tonight. It was another learning experience for our team and hopefully we can take something from this and build on it for Sunday's match."
It was a sluggish start for both teams, but Arkansas capitalized on some uncharacteristic miscues by the Tide to gain a 14-6 advantage in game one. Alabama closed the gap to four points (15-11) before the Lady Razorbacks pushed back in front by eight at 22-14. Bama again trimmed the deficit getting as close as two points, 28-26, before eventually surrendering the final two points in a 30-26 loss.
Alabama found itself in an early hole to start game two falling behind 7-1 after just three rotations. Much like the opening frame, the Tide rallied back to within three at 10-7, only to see Arkansas answer with a scoring run that stretched their lead back out. The Lady 'Backs maintained a several point margin for the remainder of the stanza as Bama struggled for any consistency on offense or passing the ball. Arkansas led by as many as eight points en route to the 30-25 victory. The loss was just the fourth this season for the Tide in game two of a match.
The Tide finally got things rolling in game three earning their first lead of the night. Alabama grabbed a six-point lead (12-6) and held a multi-point edge for a good portion of the frame. Arkansas fought its way back and actually retook a lead at 19-18, but Bama responded with four straight points to snatch back the advantage. The Lady Razorbacks made the next charge scoring four consecutive points to move back on top. With the score knotted at 25, Arkansas closed out the contest scoring five of the next six points for the 30-26 win.
Junior Kelley Potter led the Tide offense finishing with a career best 19 kills. Potter also paced the Bama defense with 13 digs marking her third double-double of the season. Senior All-American candidate Erin Heffner extended her double figure kill streak to 36 matches with 10 kills, but she had to work extremely hard to reach that total as Arkansas committed a double block against her on nearly every swing.
Arkansas, the SEC leader in blocking, earned a 10-6 block advantage at the net and also won the battle on the back line finishing with 57 digs to the Tide's 52. On the night, Alabama hit just .125 on offense and committed 12 serving miscues.
Denitza Koleva topped Arkansas with 11 kills and Karla Krose had 11 digs to lead the Lady 'Back defenders. All-SEC senior Jennifer Haaser finished with seven blocks.
Alabama has now lost its last seven matches against Arkansas and is still in search of its first win in Fayetteville, falling to 0-11 all-time in Barnhill Arena. Tonight's match also marked the 750th of Coach Judy Green's 19-year coaching career.
The Crimson Tide concludes its SEC road trip weekend on Sunday against LSU at 2 p.m., in a match being televised live by Fox Sports Net South
Alabama (16-6, 6-5 SEC) 26-25-26
Arkansas (11-10, 8-3 SEC) 30-30-30
