Alabama Volleyball Drops a Hard Fought Season Opener at Kansas
8/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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LAWRENCE, KS—The University of Alabama volleyball team fell 3-0 (30-28, 30-28, 30-22) in a hard fought season opener at Kansas. The loss marked just the second loss in the last seven season openers for the Crimson Tide.
In the first game, Alabama got out to a slow start, falling behind early and trailed midway through the game by eight points at 20-12. But the Tide rallied closing to within a point at 29-28, before falling 30-28.
The Tide came out quickly in the second game, taking a 5-2 lead and held the lead until late in the game when Kansas was able to rally to take a 28-27 lead and eventually the game, 30-28.
Game three found the Tide unable to get on track following the intermission. Alabama took at quick 5-3 lead, however the Jayhawks rolled off seven unanswered to take a 10-3 lead and never looked back.
Alabama head coach Judy Green was pleased with glad that the Tide played a team like Kansas.
“I’m glad we played a team like Kansas, a very seasoned, highly experienced top 40 team in the country and we did that for a reason,” Green said. “We won’t play any more hostile environment than this. You have to learn how to play in places like this when you are scratching and clawing to move up.”
Green was also pleased by the Tide’s competitiveness and determination.
“Our competitive attitude, especially in game one, to be down eight, it showed a high level of character to make that comeback,” Green stated
For the match the Tide was led by Bridget Fuentez who had 14 kills. Kelley Potter added 10 kills for Alabama. Brigitte Slack had 40 assists for the evening and defensively Jessica Yearout led the Tide with 16 digs.
Freshmen Sarah Snider and Amy Pauly each made their debuts for Alabama. Snider had four kills and eight digs as well as recording a solo block. Pauly, a defensive specialist, dug eight attacks and recorded her service ace. Offensively, the Jayhawks were led by Jana Correa and Josi Lima. They recorded 16 and 15 kills respectively. Andi Rozum recorded 45 assists.
The Tide returns to action Saturday at noon against Missouri-Kansas City. The match will be the first of the season for the Kangaroos.
