Alabama Beats No. 18 Tennessee in Four Games
10/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA ?? The milestones just keep on flying by for the Alabama volleyball team.
TheTide, one of the hottest teams in all of college volleyball, continued its torrid stretch this afternoon in the CAVE by defeating No. 18 Tennessee in four games. The win was the Tide’s sixth-straight in SEC play, its eighth straight on its home floor and marked the second victory over a ranked team in as many tries.
It was a week ago Sunday, as a matter of fact, that the Tide beat its highest-ranked opponent with a 3-1 win over No. 10 LSU.
A similar story unfolded in the CAVE this afternoon.
“Obviously, we are playing with a lot of confidence,” head coach Judy Green said. “But we came out a little slow and some of our role players weren’t performing up to their ability early on.”
Tennessee jumped out early, using a stifling defense to hold the Tide to a meager .083 hitting percentage. The Lady Vols hit .297 on their end and walked away with a 30-21 victory in game one.
Alabama struck back in the second frame, utilizing some great defense of its own. The Tide sided out at a 66 percent clip, its highest percentage of the afternoon, en route to an exciting 30-27 win to draw even with UT.
“I think it took us a little while to adjust to them having three hitters on the court,” Green said. “After game one, I just told them that I thought we were getting outplayed in every aspect of the game on our home floor. I challenged them and they responded.”
In the third game Alabama began to find its rhythm. The Tide held Tennessee to a .097 hitting percentage and converted .282 percent of its own attack attempts. The UA serving attack kept Tennessee off balance and the Tide hitters responded en route to an easy 30-20 decision.
It seemed as if all the momentum was in the Tide’s favor, but some sloppy play early allowed Tennessee to regain its composure in the fourth and final frame. The Lady Vols took advantage, building a late lead. The Tide stormed back to tie it up in the final portion of the game, setting up a thrilling conclusion.
The two teams traded side outs, until Alabama took a 30-29 lead with a Crystal Hudson kill. The Lady Vols didn’t quit, though, using some Tide service errors to stay in the game. After two of the game’s 11 lead changes, a Brooks Webster kill on an overpass and a Tennessee hitting error capped off some of the most exciting volleyball played in the CAVE this season.
“Our hitters did a great job today, but a big part of that was our passing,” Green said. “It was pretty much a side-out volleyball match today, and our passing and serving made the difference.”
It would be a difficult task to find a pair of teammates who are playing better volleyball than the Tide’s Hudson and outside hitter Bridget Fuentez, who shouldered the load for the Tide offensively against the Lady Vols.
The duo, who are one and two on the Tide’s kill charts this season and are each threatening to break in to the 1,000-kill category this season, were absolutely phenomenal in the win over Tennessee.
“Crystal and Bridget just continue to get better and better,” Green said. “They are becoming more complete volleyball players who see the court better each week. When they are on, we are a very tough team to defend.”
Hudson, the redshirt junior from Hueytown, smashed 22 kills on the afternoon, tying Fuentez for match-high honors. It marked third time this season that Hudson went over the 20-kill mark. After hitting .824 on Friday night, Hudson, who came into the weekend ranked fifth in the SEC in hitting percentage, knocked down 44.4 percent of her attempts in Sunday’s win.
Equally impressive was Fuentez, who has been nearly unstoppable of late from her outside hitter position. The junior from Tomball, Texas, matched Hudson with 22 kills while hitting .241 for the afternoon. She went over the 20-kill mark for the fourth time in 2006 and finished one kill short of her career high 23.
Webster had an excellent game as well, pounding 12 kills to go with three digs. Rachael Green hit over .471 for the afternoon, putting down nine kills and adding a career high eight block assists.
Alabama setter Brigitte Slack continued to distribute the ball evenly throughout the lineup and racked up 60 more assists in the match. Slack added four kills, five digs and three block assists to the Tide victory.
Amy Pauly and Megan Hudson were outstanding on the defensive side for Alabama, tallying 18 and 11 digs, respectively, on the afternoon. Sarah Snider, who played in three of the four games, managed nine digs for the Tide.
Alabama will hit the road for the first time in two weeks on Friday, Oct. 20 when the Tide travels to Ole Miss. Mississippi State is Alabama’s opponent on Sunday, Oct. 22, marking the beginning of the second half of the SEC loop. The Tide beat both schools in Tuscaloosa in the opening weekend of league action.
