SEC Volleyball Tournament Starts Today in Coleman Coliseum
11/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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Box Score | Photo Gallery | SEC Tournament Information
In a season that has been filled with unprecedented accomplishments in Alabama volleyball history, the Crimson Tide reached another milestone Saturday night, defeating No. 25 Tennessee 3-2 to advance to their first SEC Tournament final in the modern era (1989-present) of Alabama volleyball. The Tide will face No. 4 Florida, who advanced to their 15th straight title match with a 3-2 win over Arkansas, Sunday afternoon at 2:30 in the CAVE.
The only other SEC Tournament final the Tide reached was in 1981 when Alabama dropped a 3-0 decision to Tennessee in Knoxville.
The Tide had been dominated by Tennessee heading into this season, but Alabama defeated the Lady Vols for the second time this year marking the first time since 1995 that UA had defeated UT twice in a season. The win also was the Tide's second this season against a Top 25 opponent.
"This is an incredible year for the tournament to be in our house," Alabama head coach Judy Green said. "We have an incredible following of fans, including the core group that was here last night and tonight. They are basically our seventh person."
The Tide took the first game of the night 30-26 but dropped the next two games 30-18. Alabama had their backs against the wall in game four, trailing 26-28 before storming back to tie the match with a 31-29 win. The Tide rallied once again to win game five 15-13 to the delight of the raucous crowd.
"The number one thing we told our kids this morning was that we had to play to win," Green said. "In game one, we executed everything we wanted to do. In game two, Tennessee executed everything that they wanted to do. Both of the first two games were won on service and passing. In game three, I started to send a bad rotation that probably didn't give us the matchups we wanted. Games four and five were just gutty, gritty performances by a team that absolutely played to win today."
Freshman Sarah Snider led the Tide with 16 kills and 17 digs. Sophomore Bridget Fuentez had a double-double as well with 13 kills and 10 digs. Senior Kelley Potter and sophomore Crystal Hudson added 14 kills each. Sophomore Brigitte Slack had 35 assists and sophomore Megan Hudson had her second career double-double with a career high 29 assists to go with 10 digs. Senior Jessica Yearout led the Tide's defense with 22 digs.
Yuliya Stoyanova led the Lady Vols with 18 kills. Kristen Andre was the only other Lady Vol in double figures with 12 kills. Amy Morris led UT with 24 digs.
The winner of the championship match receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The game will be televised by Fox Sports net and the game will be broadcast locally on WVUA 90.7 FM. Tickets for the match can be bought at the door.
