Crimson Tide Volleyball Falls at LSU, 3-1
10/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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BATON ROUGE, La. - The University of Alabama got a bagful of Halloween tricks from host LSU on Sunday afternoon as the Tigers handed the Tide a 3-1 (30-27, 19-30, 23-30, 28-30) loss.
The Crimson Tide (16-7, 6-6 SEC) saw a three-match win streak on Halloween snapped by a very balanced and determined LSU (13-9, 5-7 SEC) team. The loss dropped Bama's record to 1-4 on Sunday and gave the Tigers a 20-19 edge in the all-time series.
"First of all I want to give LSU credit for playing an extremely good match," said UA head coach Judy Green. "All weekend long our team seemed to be playing with a great deal of pressure and it affected our play. This will be a defining week for us to see if we can regroup and get back to playing the type of solid team volleyball we are capable of playing."
Senior Erin Heffner led the Tide with 18 kills but LSU forced the All-American candidate to work for every point and held her to a disappointing .036 hitting performance. Kelley Potter finished with 14 kills and 10 digs for her second straight double-double while Julie Farley tallied 12 kills and committed no hitting errors in 23 swings.
Heffner topped the team's defense with 14 digs followed by 13 from Jessica Yearout and 11 by Brigitte Slack. Farley and Slack both recorded four blocks to lead the team's front line and Slack also posted her 1,000th career assist in the fourth game.
LSU led throughout the opening portion of game one as the Tide struggled to find an offensive flow. The Tigers held a six-point lead, 19-13, when Bama began a charge that pulled them to within one at 19-18. Two quick points from LSU extended their lead but UA refused to quit eventually knotting the score at 22. From there the two teams traded points to 27 before Alabama scored the final three points for the win, 30-27.
Game two featured early lead changes until LSU used a 9-3 run to grab a 14-8 advantage. The Tigers continued to keep the pressure on, building a double-digit advantage at 25-15. The Tide attempted a late comeback but it was too little too late as LSU closed things out and evened the match with a 30-19 win.
Alabama's troubles continued to start game three as LSU jumped out to a 10-3 lead. The Tide scored seven of the next eight points to get right back into the game and pull to within one at 11-10. The score stayed close until the Tigers strung five points together to gain a 25-17 edge. UA closed the deficit to just five points twice but got no closer as LSU finished things off for the 30-23 victory.
Both teams opened the fourth frame with inspired play highlighted by several gritty rallies for early points. Bama took a 6-3 lead, but LSU raced back in front scoring six consecutive points and 11 of the next 13. Alabama kept within striking distance eventually tying the score at 18 with a five-point run of their own. The Tigers clawed to a 24-21 lead only to see Bama roar back to force the fifth tie of the stanza. The two squads went toe-to-toe from there with UA unable to prevent LSU from scoring the deciding points for the 30-28 victory.
LSU got a well-balanced offensive showing with four players reaching double digits including team leader Jelena Mijatovic with 17. A quartet of Tigers also had double figure digs with Mijatovic again leading the way with 17.
The Crimson Tide returns to the court next on Friday, Nov. 5 when they play host to Ole Miss in the CAVE at 7 p.m. Bama will conclude the key SEC weekend with a match versus Mississippi State next Sunday (Nov. 7).
Alabama (16-7, 6-6 SEC) 30-19-23-28
LSU (13-9, 5-7 SEC) 27-30-30-30
