Alabama Volleyball Sweeps Southern Miss, 3-0
9/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The University of Alabama volleyball team continued its current four-match road swing with a 3-0 (30-18, 30-26, 30-24) sweep over Southern Mississippi on Tuesday night.
The Crimson Tide, who improved to 12-1 on the season, cruised to their fourth consecutive win while handing the Golden Eagles (3-7) their fifth straight defeat. Alabama had a strong night offensively hitting .308 as a team for the contest.
"I thought we had a very effective hitting performance tonight," said UA head coach Judy Green. "It was good to see us work on some first tempo attacks in a match. I thought we were a little off defensively. We will need to get better the next two days and play much better on defense at Georgia if we want to continue being successful."
Senior All-American candidate Erin Heffner again paced the Tide finishing with team highs in both kills (21) and digs (11). With her performance tonight, Heffner moved into a tie for fourth place on the SEC's all-time kill list with former Tennessee standout Tamala Brightman with 1,781.
Alabama also got solid offensive performances against USM from middle blockers Rachael Green (10 kills) and Julie Farley (nine kills). The duo both connected at .500 clips with Farley recording no hitting errors on the night. Farley also tallied four aces to lead a 13 ace performance by the Crimson Tide. Jessica Yearout posted 10 digs to join Heffner in double digits defensively.
Amy Troung was the lone bright spot for the Golden Eagles recording 11 kills and seven digs.
Next up for the Crimson Tide is a return to Southeastern Conference play this weekend with a pair of challenging road contests. Alabama visits Georgia on Friday night before squaring off against No. 5 Florida on Sunday.
