Bama Volleyball Upends UT-Arlington in Tourney Opener
9/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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ARLINGTON, Texas - In a battle of undefeated squads, the University of Alabama volleyball team overcame some sluggish play to remain unblemished with an impressive 3-1 (23-30, 30-25, 30-21, 30-25) win over tournament host UT-Arlington on Friday night.
The Crimson Tide, who improve to 5-0 on the season, lost the first game of a match for the first time all season but came roaring back with three straight wins to hand the Mavericks (5-1) their first loss.
"These kind of matches really build a team's character," said UA head coach Judy Green. "I was really impressed with how hard this team played. I'm extremely proud of the way our middle blockers played tonight. They really stepped up when we needed it. We had another great defensive effort that probably was the difference in the end. This win was definitely a total team effort."
UTA got a quick start scoring the first five points of the opening frame en route to building as large as a nine-point margin (18-9). Alabama continued to battle and trimmed the deficit to just three points several times with the last coming at 26-23. UA would get no closer as the Mavericks closed out the game scoring the final four points for the 30-23 win. The Tide's offense struggled mustering a .000 hitting percentage with 14 kills and 14 errors.
Alabama turned the tables on UTA to start the second game rolling out to an early lead. Bama pushed in front by as much as nine points (17-8) behind the strong right arm of outside hitter Erin Heffner. Heffner tallied many of her 12 second game kills during the Alabama run. Arlington slowly climbed back into the game cutting UA's advantage to four points several times before eventually dropping the decision, 30-25.
The two squads settled into a back-and-forth battle in the third stanza as neither team was able to grab the momentum. The Tide made the first move opening up a small lead that reached eight points (18-10). UA held that margin over several rotations before allowing UTA to creep back to within four points. Bama turned things around to finish strong for and earn the 30-21 victory.
In game four, Alabama overcame a slow start and a six-point deficit to capture the match with a 30-25 win. Arlington jumped out to a quick lead on some sluggish play by the Crimson Tide and led 18-12 before UA began its winning push. The Tide outscored UTA 9-3 in four rotations to knot the score at 21. The teams traded side-out points until Alabama was finally able to string five straight points together to finish the match.
All-American candidate Erin Heffner recorded 27 kills to lead a Tide offense that saw four players record season high performances. Joining Heffner in double digits were middle blockers Julie Farley (13) and Rachael Green (14) and freshman outside hitter Crystal Hudson (18). Junior libero Jessica Yearout paced a strong Bama defensive showing with 21 digs followed by 17 from Heffner and 13 by Kory Tull. UA also got a spark off the bench from freshman setter Megan Hudson, who came in during the fourth game to ignite the Tide rally.
Ashley Van Antwerp finished with 17 kills and 15 digs as the top performer for UT-Arlington.
The Crimson Tide concludes tournament play at the UTA Invitational with a match versus Arkansas-Little Rock at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
