Alabama Volleyball Captures UWM Invitational
9/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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The University of Alabama volleyball team defeated Wisc.-Milwaukee Saturday night 3-0 (30-16, 30-27, 30-21) to win the UWM Invitational. Earlier in the day, the Crimson Tide defeated Northern Iowa 3-0 as well. Alabama's record improved to 8-1. The Panthers dropped to 5-4.
"This was one of the best team efforts that I have ever seen from an Alabama volleyball team," Alabama head coach Judy Green said. "Hopefully we will earn a little bit of credibility now as we get closer to conference play. We passed and served the ball extremely well all weekend."
Jessica Yearout, Crystal Hudson and Bridget Fuentez each took all-tournament honors for the event, with Yearout earning MVP. The all-tournament honor marked the first such award for any of the trio.
Yearout stood out defensively in both the match and the entire tournament. The senior libero finished the match with 18 digs and recorded 61 digs over UA's three matches in the event.
Hudson had a career night in leading the Tide to victory. The sophomore tied her career high with 18 kills and set a new career mark with seven block assists. She finished the night with a .667 hitting percentage. The Hueytown native finished the tournament 21 total blocks over the three games and had 26 kills with a .452 hitting percentage.
Fuentez finished the tournament with 37 kills and 36 digs and had nine digs and nine kills on the night.
UWM was led defensively with 16 digs from Becky Peters. Leanne Felsing made the all-tournament team for the Panthers and finished the night with six kills and 15 assists to pace the tournament hosts.
Alabama returns to action Wednesday night at the CAVE against Alabama A&M. The Tide will be looking to extend its winning streak to nine games, which would be the longest since the 1995 season. First serve of the match is set for 7:00. Admission to the match is free.
